By Ian S Palmer
Former IBO Super Middleweight Champion Chris Eubank Jr. of England takes on Wanik Awdijan of Armenia in a 10-round middleweight tilt in Newcastle, England this Saturday, Oct. 16th. The fight can be seen live on Sky Sports Arena in the UK and Ireland. Eubank last fought in May when he beat Marcus Morrison by a 10-round unanimous decision. He was supposed to fight on Oct. 2nd against Sven Elbir but he pulled out due to a positive Covid-19 test and was replaced by Anatoli Muratov, who also pulled out. Awdijan last saw action in July when he edged Iago Kiziria by an eight-round split decision.
The 32-year-old Eubank enters the ring at 30-2 with 22 Kos to his name. He won the IBO Super Middleweight Title in 2017 when he stopped Renold Quinlan in the 10th round. He then defended it against Arthur Abraham and Avni Yildirim before losing the belt to George Groves via a unanimous decision in 2018. His first pro defeat came in 2014 when Billy Joe Saunders beat him by split decision for the European, British and Commonwealth Middleweight Championship Belts.
Eubank also has a win over James DeGale by unanimous decision in 2019 to regain the IBO Super Middleweight crown. However, Eubank has since dropped down in weight to compete as a middleweight. He possesses good power and boxing skills and has 196 rounds of experience since turning pro in 2011. He’s also beaten Nick Blackwell, Dmitrii Chudinov, Gary O’Sullivan and Bradley Price.
Eubank stands 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 72.5-inch and has often displayed impressive power up to now with a current knockout ratio of 68.8 per cent. He’s been wobbled and cut a couple of times in the ring, but also has a solid chin. Eubank’s at his best when he overwhelms his opponent with his relentless punching and is hard to keep at bay because of it. However, he isn’t the hardest guy to hit if he gets goaded into a slugfest, but most boxers prefer not to go toe-to-toe with him. Saunders beat him by outboxing him in a close fight while the loss against Groves was more of a brawl.
As for Awdijan, he’s 26 years old and fights put of Germany. He enters the bout with a mark of 28-1 with 11 Kos. His lone defeat came at the hands of Kevin Thomas Cojean back in 2014 when he was halted in the fifth round. He made his pro debut in 2012 when he was just a teenager and has boxed 144 rounds since, with all of his fights except two being held in Germany.
He beat Maono Ally in in 2018 via a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant International IBF Youth Middleweight Title. However, he’s taking a huge step up in class this weekend against Eubank as he’s never fought a contender. Awdijan is quite tall for a middleweight at 6-feet-two inches, which gives him a three-inch edge on Eubank, but unfortunately there’s no information on his reach. Awdijan doesn’t possess much in the way of power as his current knockout ratio stands at just 38 per cent.
Prediction…
Awdijan is another replacement and heavy underdog but that can sometimes work in a boxer’s favour. However, with very little power to speak of he’s going to have to rely on his skills and size to be successful. There’s little chance of that happening though as he’s not in Eubank’s class at this stage of their careers. I’m expecting Eubank Jr to emerge with a win in this keep-busy clash.
