The first of three semi-major shows on this busy Saturday is in the books. In the main event, Chris Eubank Jr won wide over Arthur Abraham to punch his ticket into the World Boxing Super Series. The fight went about as predictably as anyone could have imagined beforehand. Lee Selby successfully defended his world title in the co-feature as well.
Chris Eubank Jr (25-1, 19 KOs) was able to style on 37 year old Arthur Abraham (46-5, 30 KOs) in the main event. For those who have not followed his career, it might have looked like Abraham was either shot or not trying, but this is who he is and who he has always been. Abraham puts his arms up when his opponents are punching and waits for it to end. An active, athletic fighter who can avoid his powerful, but crude bursts have always been Arthur Abraham’s kryptonite.
For what it was worth, Eubank Jr did his best to make a show of it with his theatrics and super flashy combinations. He also did better than most Abraham opponents in terms of getting around his guard with wide hooks or slipping inside of it with tight uppercuts. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Abraham hit clean as often as he was in this fight and he has been in with many world class opponents over his long career. The scores came back near shut outs across the board as they should have.
The wide win puts Chris Eubank Jr officially into the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight tournament. His first round opponent will be Turkish prospect Avni Yildirim in what on paper is a very entertaining contest as Yildirim is a come forward, action friendly pressure fighter. At 37, Abraham is probably best to be left in domestic level fights on the German scene. If he wants to move up to make his cut easier, a fight with Karo Murat would probably do big business over there now. If not, he could likely get a shot at Tyron Zeuge’s fake WBA “world title” which would also do well.
Lee Selby (25-1, 9 KOs) fairly easily defended his IBF featherweight belt over Jonathan Victor Barros (41-5-1, 22 KOs) via unanimous decision in the co-main event. There isn’t a ton to say about this contest. Selby just has the superior craft. His Argentinian mandatory opponent simply could not find him behind his jab and movement. Little excitement took place until the 12th, but Selby was moving his hands and easily controlling the bout. Barros tried to the end, but it was all for not. Selby put him down pretty hard in the final frame to add injury to insult. This was actually even easier for the Welsh titleholder than I had anticipated going in. Selby will probably never be exciting, he just doesn’t have the pop to win exchanges, but this was a good performance from him.
Deeper on the undercard, Polish junior welterweight Michal Syrowatka (19-1, 7 KOs) rallied for an astonishing come from behind, last round stoppage of previously unbeaten Robbie Davies Jr (15-1, 11 KOs) to win a minor WBA belt. This wasn’t an exciting fight over its first half, but it is definitely worth a watch for the late drama. Martin Joseph Ward (18-0-2, 8 KOs) also made the all important third defense of his British junior lightweight title over Anthony Cacace (15-1, 7 KOs) and off the PPV in a fight I haven’t seen yet, Kid Galahad (23-0, 14 KOs) scored the biggest win of his career by stopping Jose Cayetano (21-6, 10 KOs) in ten to pick up a minor IBF featherweight title.
