Harem Eubank vs. Nurali Erodgan Preview

Harem Eubank vs. Nurali Erodgan Preview

By Matt Elliott

Harlem Eubank fights for the first time in 2024 this Friday as he takes on Nurali Erodgan at the Walker Activity Dome on the outskirts of Newcastle. Originally scheduled for Bolton, the event was rescheduled and moved north, allowing several local boxers to appear on the card, with the return of Cyrus Pattinson, the most notable inclusion.

It’s fair to say it has been a frustrating twelve months for Eubank, who will have come into the year full of optimism after three victories in 2023, including two stoppages, which saw him continue climbing the rankings. A big showdown against Adam Azim was rumoured to be close earlier in the year, with the two men even facing off in the ring ahead of the Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke clash at the O2 Arena back in March, only for the fight to fail to materialise after Azim picked up an injury in training. Rather than waiting for an alternative date, Eubank chose to pursue a different path, which in hindsight was potentially an error of judgement given Azim returned to action in October, with Eubank having to wait the extra month.

The fight against Erodgan sees Eubank move up to welterweight, with him stating that advice from his uncle, Chris Snr, was pivotal in making that decision. It is a fight he will be expected to win comfortably against an opponent who has three defeats to his name and who comes into this one on the back of a defeat to Faizan Anwar back in May. Eubank has not ruled out moving back down to super lightweight if the Azim fight can be resurrected, but he has also publicly called out Conor Benn, although it seems as if his cousin is first in line for that fight. Regardless of what comes next, 2025 needs to be a far more active year for the Brighton-based man, and he cannot afford any slip ups if he is to live up to the family name.

In the pick of the undercard fights, Cyrus Pattinson returns to action after recovering from a potentially career-threatening eye injury, which has kept him sidelined for almost twelve months. After a promising start to his professional career, Pattinson was lined up for a crossover fight with Lewis Ritson before those plans were derailed when he lost to Conah Walker in a punishing battle in August 2023. A rematch was announced for February before Pattinson suffered the injury in sparring, which proved to be far worse than first feared. After undergoing several tests and a prolonged period of rehab, he is cleared to return and will face Andrei Antonov over six rounds.

Dan Toward continues his development, taking on Johan Nova over eight rounds. Toward has only gone the distance once in his four fights to date, but Nova represents another step up in quality, with the Colombian only having suffered one defeat in nine, winning seven of his fights by stoppage. Other North East-based fighters on the card are Ben Marksby, Joe Laws, Eduard Georgiev, and Lee Rogers, who makes his second professional appearance following his debut at the annual Summer Rumble back in July. A former amateur at Birtley Boxing Club, Rogers turned over with huge promise, and he will be hoping to showcase his talents as he takes on Yin Caicedo.

As well as an array of North East talent, the show sees the Wasserman debut of Sophie Alisch, who signed a long-term promotional deal last month. The German-born fighter, twice named WBC prospect of the year, is 9-0 as a professional but this marks her first fight since March 2023 as she faces Marina Sakharov and she will be determined to impress as she seeks to work her way towards a world title shot. As well as signing with Wasserman, Alisch teamed up with Summit Sports, where she is mentored by the former Sky Sports head of boxing and current GBM Sports’ Director of Broadcasting Adam Smith.

Channel 5 will broadcast part of the event, with coverage starting from 9pm on 5Action before moving to the main channel from 10:30pm.

Full Schedule (subject to change)

Harlem Eubank vs. Nurali Erdogan – welterweight, 10 rounds

Cyrus Pattinson vs. Andrei Antonov – super welterweight, 6 rounds

Dan Toward vs. Johan Nova – super welterweight, 8 rounds

Ben Marksby vs. Levi Kinsiona – super lightweight, 10 rounds

Joe Laws vs. Adam Cieslak – middleweight, 6 rounds

Sophie Alisch vs. Marina Sakharov – super featherweight, 6 rounds

Robert Lloyd-Taylor Jnr vs. Robin Zamora – welterweight, 8 rounds

Niall Brown vs. Pablo Sosa – super middleweight, 6 rounds

J’Hon Ingram vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira – super featherweight, 6 rounds

Lee Rogers vs. Yin Caicedo – super bantamweight, 4 rounds

Codie Smith vs. Engel Gomez – super featherweight, 4 rounds

Eduard Georgiev vs. Jack England – super featherweight, 4 rounds

Photo Credit: Wasserman Boxing