Despite being outclassed by George Groves last night, our boxing expert believes he can still win a world championship belt…
The biggest crime a boxer can make is claiming he’s Muhammed Ali and then performing like Audley Harrison.
For many fans, Chris Eubank Jr committed this misdemeanour last night and nobody was more upset than ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed.
I will try to dissect the wisest words of Naz-tradamus here, but I could write an essay on the most quotable three minutes of punditry ever: “you’re either good at boxing or you’re not”, “you need to be able to put them away, bruppp them up” and, most cutting of all, “which camera can I look into to tell Chris Eubank Jr to finish”.
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Eubank is yet to respond. The Brightonian was outclassed by Groves and he couldn’t hurt the champion but I think retiring after only his second loss, to the best super middleweight on the planet, at the age of 28, is a bit premature.
Eubank told us all he was world class before the fight and even after the contest he maintained that he’s at world level, and to be fair to him the judges agreed that he was competitive in the fight with each giving him either four or five rounds.
Was a hell of fight & I’ll be back in the ring asap. Congratulations to Groves #NEXTGEN pic.twitter.com/TvKUl64JmX
— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) February 17, 2018
Realistically, Eubank can still become a certified champion. At super middleweight, Caleb Truax, the American title-holder who dethroned James DeGale in December, would be fodder for Junior and there’s the option of going back to middleweight, his natural weight class.
Naz acknowledged what he was saying was harsh, but he made the point that he doesn’t want Junior to get hurt.
Eubank was brave in the face of a battering, however hard fights like that take their toll on a fighter.
Although ‘Prince’ Naseem was the star of the punditry team it was his co-commentator Duke McKenzie who nailed the issue down, Eubank is a know-it-all. Junior needs to take much more tactical guidance and do some serious work on fighting at range.
George Groves was underrated by everybody, especially Eubank.
The Londoner put on a masterclass and he will be a big favourite to win the World Boxing Super Series and unify the division.
But the thing that I most hope comes out of this is that the long-term featherweight boss from the 90’s, the man who is struggling to shift the Christmas pounds of several years, Naz, is the main pundit for the next big fight, football match and series of Strictly.
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