By Ian S Palmer
Dmitry Chudinov of Russia will be taking on England’s Chris Eubank Jr. this Saturday, February 28 at the O2 Arena in London, England. The 12-round bout is for Chudinov’s WBA’s interim Middleweight Championship and can be seen in Britain live on BoxNation. Eubank was beaten by fellow Brit Billy Joe Saunders in his last bout as he suffered his first defeat and has to bear Chudinov if he hopes to realize his goal of becoming a world champion like his dad Chris Eubank.
The 25-year-old Eubank will enter the ring with an impressive record of 18-1 with 13 Kos while the 28-year-old Chudinov is undefeated at 14-0-2 and has 9 Kos to his name. Eubank may be making the mistake of taking Chudinov too lightly as he’s already talking about meeting up with Gennady Golovkin in the near future. However, he needs to learn how to walk before he can run and should realize he’s nowhere near the same class as Golovkin.
Eubank wants a rematch with Saunders and then go for Golovkin, who is the WBA Middleweight Titleholder. However he’s going to have his hands full with Chudinov first. Eubank recently spoke about Chudinov with the British press and stated, “On paper he’s the Interim World Champion and the man I must beat to get the belt. But having seen him face-to-face and looked him deep in the eyes, I see a man who is up against insurmountable odds.”
One thing the Englishman will have going for him in this bout is the hometown advantage as well as decent power and good boxing skills, However, they still weren’t enough to beat Saunders last year. Chudinov said Eubank’s remarks have made him more determined and motivated though and he doesn’t plan on losing his belt to the up-and-comer. He’s unbeaten up to now and has decent power and would also like to get a shot at Golovkin sometime down the road.
Eubank enters the ring with 97 rounds of boxing under his belt since turning pro in 2011 and has faced mainly Grade B or less opponents and has never fought outside of his homeland. Chudinov has gone 70 rounds since turning professional back in 2009 and started his career by fighting out of California. He hasn’t faced any top opponents as of yet either, so both boxers seem to be on even ground here. The champion has a solid defense and like most Russian fighters, is quite tough with a solid chin. He likes to apply pressure and will need to do that if he’s going to win this fight.
Prediction
Eubank has the edge in speed and power which means he could take the contest by points if Chudinov can’t stop him. There’s also the chance that Eubank stops him somewhere in the later rounds. Look for Eubank to use his skills while Chudinov’s toughness allows him to hang in there. As long as Eubank can take Chudinov’s power shots he’ll leave the ring with the Russian’s interim belt.
