Friday 21 July 2017

Eubank jr outclasses crafty Abraham to secure place in WBSS.

The Art of selecting the most suitable opponent at exactly the correct time in a fighters career is a time served tradition, and last weeks Chris Eubank Jr v Arthur Abraham IBO SuperMiddleweight title fight at the SSE in London was no exception.. Between 2005 and 2009 Arthur Abraham held and defended the IBF middleweight championship 10 times, then on 2 occasions between 2012 and 2015 he held the same WBO belt his opponents father held in the 1990s, defending it 6 times, a title he still held until a defeat by Gilberto Ramirez in April of last year.. On the face of it, Arthur is a trusted household name with credibility, albeit a dozen fights ago, well shy of his 52 fight career.. Abraham was employed as the perfect challenger to showcase the busy, crisp punching youngster.. The choice was flawless..
Prior to his February shot at the lightly regarded Renold Quinlan, most observers would be mistaken for judging Jr on his 2014 Split decision loss to the now WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in a fight where he appeared to box within himself, with the lack of urgency that could have earned Jr British, Commonwealth and European titles and probably the opportunity at the WBO that subsequently came Saunders way.. Yet in contrast we've seen Dominant stokes of genius against the likes of Dmitri Chudinov, Nick Blackwell and Spike O'Sullivan..
The importance of the occasion brought out the best in Chris Jr (25-1,19 Ko's) who never allowed Abraham the luxury of a close quarter engagement from the off.. The pattern saw the Champion beat the pedestrian Armenian to the cleaner work throughout the first half of the fight, Arthur marching into range with a high guard only to be continually countered with clinical precision.. By the middle rounds the tempo set by the youngster began to take its toll on Abraham, who was a sitting target for the trademark uppercuts Jr cracked in from close range.. It was evident by the 9th that there was no road back for Abraham, who had left it too late to try a rally to subdue the enthusiastic champion.. Eubank’s strong, quick combinations often had Abraham on the defensive, earning him a clear cut unanimous decision by Scores of 118-110, 118-110, 120-108. With the win, Eubank retains his IBO 168lb belt and will move onto the lucrative World Boxing Super Series. Abraham (46-6, 30 Ko's) looked an ageing fighter at 38, who has possibly come to the conclusion of a brilliant career..

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