By: Hans Themistode
Chris Eubank Jr. spent the entirety of his 2020 sitting on the sidelines. He’ll now look to make his second trip to the ring in a five-month span.
The former WBA “interim” middleweight titleholder will take on journeymen Sven Elbir in the main event slot at Wembley Arena, in the United Kingdom, on October 2nd.
Since losing to George Groves in the World Boxing Super Series, Eubank Jr. has gone on to win four in a row. In December of 2019, Eubank Jr. became an interim titlist with a win over Matt Korobov. Eubank Jr. would then go to defend that title against Marcus Morrison earlier this year in May, outpointing his man over ten rounds.
Eubank Jr.’s title reign, however, was truncated thanks to the WBA sanctioning body removing the proliferation of interim world titles in all weight classes. While he no longer has a championship draped over his shoulder, Eubank Jr. is still hoping that he’ll take on some of the division’s biggest names in WBC belt holder Jermall Charlo and IBF titlist, Gennadiy Golovkin.
As for Elbir, despite his 18-1 record, the German native figures to be a considerable underdog. The 27-year-old is currently unranked in the top ten in any of the four major sanctioning bodies. Regardless of that, Elbir has reeled off six consecutive wins since losing a close decision to Patrick Wojcicki in 2018.
Of Elbir’s six victories, five have come before the sound of the final bell.