A new promoter, a new trainer...now we need to see a new Chris Eubank Jnr
NEW promoter. New trainer. New Chris Eubank Jnr? That’s what it will take if he is to realise his world-title ambitions at middleweight.
I have always been a fan of Eubank Jnr. I love that he targets the best. That’s what the game is all about.
And he is right to concentrate on a hot middleweight division. Though he has the height to campaign at super middleweight, he does not have the frame to be a big 168-pounder.
His new Sauerland backers are talking a domestic tune-up against Liam Williams or Kell Brook, then straight into a big championship fight.
I like the idea of a warmup, but I’m not sure I’d put him in against either.
Williams can really fight and has the bit between his teeth at 160 after those back-to-back defeats to Liam Smith at light middle. Though he fits the bill as a fighter who comes forward, he is better than Eubank thinks, and therefore a risk. Brook is vulnerable at 160lbs, so what would that prove?
Eubank Jnr likes people who walk on to him. That’s his big problem. Unless you are willing to do that, he struggles.
He’s now working with Roy Jones. How good a trainer he is we don’t know. Just because you were a great fighter does not mean you can pass on all your secrets.
It’s great to be around him, to pick his brains, to get his advice and tips, but fighting is not coaching. Two different things.
Eubank needs to work on his ability to creep forward, to bring the fight to his opponent with intelligence and controlled aggression.
At the top you have to deal with guys on the front foot as well as the back. His two career defeats came against Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves, who stood off him. He did not have an answer.
Of the four middleweight champions, Eubank Jnr has a good chance against Gennadiy Golovkin, Ryota Murata and Jermall Charlo.
To beat WBO champion Demetrius Andrade he has to get better at initiating attacks. IBF king GGG (left) is a good fight for him. He’s 38 years old. No matter how good you are, after the number of fights he has had as amateur and pro, he is not getting better.
Victory over GGG opens the door to big unification bouts. For what it’s worth, I think he beats WBA champ Murata.
WBC champion
Charlo is an even fight.
Andrade, a slick operator with a great jab, would be a problem for him, but he has to get there first.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym @CyclonePromo