Chris Eubank Jr. Joins Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Boxing’s Elite after Capturing IBO Super Middleweight Title

boxingnews24.com

By Nedu Obi: On Saturday night at the Olympia, London, England, Chris Eubank Jr. wrested the IBO super middleweight strap from the game Aussie Renold Quinlan in stopping him in the 10th round – and in doing so, etched his name alongside such boxing greats as Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Following an eight month stint of pugilistic inactivity, Chris Eubank won his first world title by forcing the referee to call a halt to proceedings in the tenth round of his first world championship bout, after a barrage of punches went unanswered from Quinlan.

For Eubank, it was a remarkable feat, not only did he lift the IBO title, along with his father, he also made history by becoming the first father and son to have held world titles (Eubank Sr. is a former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion).

Furthermore, if anyone should scoff at his newly-minted strap (not yet a recognized boxing sanctioning body), well, Junior, as he’s fondly called by his father, now sits in the pantheon of boxing’s elite – those fighters that also captured the IBO title.

Some past IBO titleholders (*indicates current IBO champ):

Lennox Lewis (Heavyweight)
Wladimir Klitschko (Heavyweight)
Thomas Hearns (Cruiserweight)
James Toney (Cruiserweight)
Roy Jones Jr. (Light heavyweight)
Bernard Hopkins (Light heavyweight)
Antonio Tarver (Cruiserweight and Light heavyweight)
Gennady Golovkin (* IBO Middleweight)
Sergio Gabriel Martinez (Junior middleweight)
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Welterweight)
Manny Pacquiao (Light welterweight)
Juan Manuel Marquez (Light welterweight)
Ricky Hatton (Light welterweight)
Marco Antonio Barrera (Featherweight)
Naseem Hamed (Featherweight)
Vic Darchinyan (Bantamweight, Supper flyweight and Flyweight)
Nonito Donaire (Flyweight)

What next for the 27-year-old Eubank?

A unification match with IBF super middleweight James Degale in an all-out British dust-up makes pounds and sense.

In addition, a salivating clash with middleweight supremo “GGG” could be on the horizon, and what a money-spinner that would be, that and the Kazakhstani’s quadruple or more belts on the line (of course, assuming he gets past WBA (Regular) middleweight champ Daniel Jacobs.

Finally, should he rematch WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders, Eubank (24-1, 19 KOs) will get the opportunity to right a wrong.