Eubank defeated Abraham in highly convincing fashion to defend his super-middleweight belt and now tackles unknown Turk Avni Yildrim in the fall as the Brighton man bids to book a unification with compatriot George Groves early next year.
Looking at the form book, Eubank’s win slightly overshadows that of Groves, who took out the largely unproven Fedor Chudinov to pick up a version of the 168 title at the fourth time of asking recently.
Should the Brits meet as expected in the semi-final stages, it can be argued that the fresher Eubank would have the upper hand as Groves has been involved in so many wars during his career, including the six-round effort against Chudinov.
Groves took too many shots in the fight, blows that will take their toll down the line, and can be added to tough encounters with Kenny Anderson, James DeGale, Carl Froch (twice) and Badou Jack throughout his career.
In contrast, Eubank’s hardest night was against Billy Joe Saunders, although never really saw the son of a legend ship too much punishment.
The way Eubank dismantled Abraham though, especially with those sickening uppercuts, is sure to mean another hard night for Groves to come through, even more so with the fact that the IBO champion took Abraham’s best shots in the fight as was largely unfazed.
Should Eubank be able to manoeuvre his way to the final, potentially against another UK fighter in Callum Smith, a different scenario comes into play with the Liverpool man’s previous C.V.
The lack of really top, proven names is apparent immediately meaning Eubank would be Smith’s career acid test.
Dependent on how Eubank in able to come through a collision with Groves, the 27 year-old would prove a massive task for Smith, who equally would be a worthy winner of the Muhammad Ali Trophy if he can manage to put a second loss on Junior’s record.
Current odds:
Callum Smith 11/8
George Groves 5/2
Chris Eubank Jr 3/1
Juergen Braehmer 12/1
Jamie Cox 16/1
Avni Yildirim 18/1
Erik Skoglund 33/1
Rob Brant 40/1
