Saturday night at the 02 Arena in Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, WBA #2 ranked middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs), fighting out of Brighton , made short work of #11 ranked Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (22-2, 15 KOs), from Cork, Ireland, forcing his corner to throw in the towel at the end of round seven.
O’Sullivan talked the talk leading up to the fight. But when the opening bell rang it was Eubank who walked the walk, bolstered by sharp combination punching.
It wasn’t exactly like shooting fish in a barrel, but O’Sullivan was no match for Eubank and had no business sharing the ring with a fighter of his caliber. The Irishman gave it his all and landed some impressive shots, but it’s his chin, rather than his fists, which should be celebrated as he ate punches like it was going out of style.
“O’Sullivan has a good chin,” said Eubank after the bout. “I’ll give him that.”
Eubank will never be the fighter his father was, no more than Marvis Frazier or Cory Spinks are the fighters their fathers were. But all in all it was a solid, if imperfect performance which may have paved the way for Eubank to fight WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs.
“I got caught a couple times so I can’t call it perfect,” Eubank said. “There were points of the fight where I traded where I should have boxed. I’m still learning and developing my style.
“I’m mandatory so I’m next in line and I’m ready to go whenever he (Jacobs) is. I’ve heard that because of the way his fight ended with Quillin, there’s talk of a rematch. But I’m willing to take the opportunity for any world title, whether it’s against him or the winner of Andy Lee-Billy Joe Saunders.”
Eubank has earned his shot at the title. He wasn’t perfect, as he said, but few fighters are. He did what he needed to do to beat O’Sullivan, and now it’s on to bigger and better things.
“That was very satisfying. I’ve now got the chance to fight for the WBA world title, which is a dream come true.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQbcK7v9qL4
This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.
