Eubank vs the best of recent years

I'll take Eubank over Toney and McClellan
I think RJJ is closer than most make it out to be, and would lean towards Eubank if I had to fall off the fence on one side.
I think Hop's presents the toughest match-up for him (maybe the Philly bias, but I don't believe so!?), and would take him in a narrow decision (posibly SD/MD).

I have always felt that Eubank didn't get the credit he deserved. The RJJ & Toney fights should have happned, but unfortunately never did!

 

Because Eubank didnt want them from the sounds of it.

I cant recall any fight you could use as evidence for Eubank coming close to beating these guys..though he probably beats G-Man.
He certainly would be highly competitive and its highly unlikely he gets stopped by any of them.

But he just really didnt beat fighters as good as the ones mentioned..and some of his best opponents he wasnt entirely convincing againt.

 

PP69 you really think highly of Eubank.

Ill try and find more footage for you, i know you love him

 

LOL @ the thought of Eubank beating Toney and Jones.

And the fights never happened cuz EUBANK didnt want them. Eubank was a ***** who ducked all the elite Americans. Toney, Roy, McCallum, Nunn.. Eubank didnt want it with ANY of them.

 

LOL.
You're sure about that are you?

Eubank offered to fight Roy Jones at light heavy but Jones didn't want to know, thats a FACT, Jones said so himself.
The reason was because Eubank had refused to fight Jones when he was super middle champ.

Believe me, neither Jones nor Eubank really wanted to fight each other because, unlike Jones nut huggers, Roy knew it was NOT an easy fight for him.Jones knew Eubank could bang and take a shot.


Eubank beats Toney on points. (Toney was a slow sloth and taylor made for Eubank)

Eubank beats McClellan by points or stoppage.

Loses to Hopkins on points in a VERY BORING fight.

Loses to Jones on points by 3-4 round margin though if there was a knockdown, it would not be Eubank on the floor.


Eubank fought Benn TWICE and NEVER lost.
Eubank fought Watson twice and never lost. (yes Watson WAS world class, he stopped Benn in 6 and went 11 with McCallum)
Eubank fought Collins twice and lost because he was basically old and not bothered.
He fought Carl Thompson twice at CRUISERWEIGHT losing the 1st in a VERY close/great fight on points. Thompson holds a 5th round stoppage over undisputed Cruiser king David Haye!
He fought Calzaghe at 1 week notice giving Joe the hardest fight of his career.

He also beat former champs Lindel Holmes AND 2 time lightheavyweight champion Rochigiani in Germany.

Eubank was not just up there with the big boys, he WAS one of the big boys and anyone who says different, is a fool and knows little about world class boxing.

 

Chris Eubank says in his book that he would never have beat Roy Jones Jr. and would have ducked him if RJJ had been ranked in the top 10 of the WBO when Eubank was champion.

Of course, Eubank does himself a service by admitting this, and he knows it's no shame, because RJJ was the best.

RJJ beats Eubank and everyone else at 168 pounds.

 

Eubank was a very, very strong man. Iron chin. Could take a hell of a shot. He was lazy and had stamina issues (due to drying out IMO). Giving him no chance against these guys is wrong. He matched hismelf carefully, I agree. To beat Eubank you had to exceptional. All the guys listed are exceptional but even so...

All the fights would most likely go the distance and only the G-Man fight would be worth a second look.

It seems a bit unfair to criticise Eubank's lacklustre perfromances but him in with a mythical prime Toney that only really existed in less than a handful of fights.

 

None of that is in his book.

 

Eubank-Jones is really difficult to picture for me. Looking at Eubank-Malinga/Thornton and Jones-Malinga/Thornton, Eubank is 'sharper' early but Jones is 'quicker' and Eubank slows and gets sloppy later... that's just visual motion against relative opponents.

I imagine a lot of posturing and potshotting. Eubank edges Jones in ring generalship and movement and was slicker. But the Jones reflexes were amazing, and he was a much more naturally talented puncher than Eubank and threw more combinations. Though Eubank was incredibly flexible, could box out of range and not get hit.

Close, but clear win for Jones on points can be imagined, outworking Eubank.


Regarding Eubank-Toney, Eubank had a TERRIFIC stiff jab and it would 100% depend on whether Toney could read it to avoid and counter or he'd be grinded down.


Eubank-McClellan is very difficult to picture actually. I think Eubank was too loose and flexible for Gerald to outbox him or even box with him. This would have been the most difficult fight for McClellan. I struggle to see him getting to grips with Eubank.


Eubank-Hopkins? Hmm. Hopkins would be closing in on him of course and was really quite upright, I see Eubank hitting and moving, a lot to the body and going side-to-side. But Hopkins catching up with him down the stretch and getting in rights and hooks. A close one. Maybe Hopkins points.

 

Agreed.

 

I think Eubank's double win over Watson betters any of Jones, McClellan or Hopkins's wins at middle/super-middle.

Hopkins peaked later, '97-'01. Against Jones he was still raw material. Toney was a shell of himself against Jones due to the weight issues. McClellan's double over Julian Jackson was against a faded fighter, mainly a hard puncher. Hopkins's middleweight opposition was very mediocre right through.

Watson was in much better shape against Eubank than he was against McCallum. He'd had a year out prior to McCallum and that rust showed as his rights were falling short, his timing off etc but he still made a fight of it. Prior to Eubank he'd had good warm-ups (including an annihilation of Errol Christie, Eubank's main sparring partner) and was better again in the return fight.

I also like Eubank's outboxing of the tightest of technical boxers of the weight outside of Watson; Malinga, Rocchigiani. Notice McCallum and Jones don't let Watson or Malinga use their left jabs - Eubank let them use their jabs because he knew he could elude them and outjab.

 

Eubank loses to every one of them but he was durable so he escapes a ko. Benn was lucky to make it past the 1st against Mccellan

 

Eubank was a very good fighter but he never proved he could beat fighters of a high calibre like Toney, Jones and McCallum so its difficult to say how he would have performed against them. He often got run close against inferior opponents but I think he would have raised his game against those guys. Like most I think he loses by decision to most of them, his terrific chin would help against McClellan though which would have been interesting. Sadly he didnt want those top fights enough though so we're left to speculate.

 

Eubank turned down fights with Jones Jr before Jones was a champ and in 1998, havent heard anything of Jones turning Eubank down, probably after he lost his titles and became unattractive

Toney slow as mollasses? No, he was quick, eubank quicker, but Toney is a master boxer who makes few mistakes Eubank makes plenty of errors

 

Toney looked real quick against Barkley and Tony Thornton. Then go watch Toney-Jones... Toney is n..o..w..h..e..r..e...n..e..a..r as quick against Jones, and it's not just because it was against Jones opposing. It's clear as day. Tell you what, then go watch Jones-Thornton, and Toney seems v.nearly as quick (as Jones) in his fight with Thornton.