Avni rocking a Rocky Marciano T-shirt https://www.ringtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Avni-Yildirim_super-middleweight.jpg
There's probably a reason why Eubanks picked this guy, is he a slow plodder like Abraham but younger?
Avni is my 2nd favourite for this tournament, maybe 2nd = with Callum Smith I predict Eubank Jr will go all the way but will not be surprised if he hits a banana skin in round 1 Avni matches up well with him physically, so it will be a grueling fight no matter who wins. Groves will get thumped by whoever he faces in the SF, Groves has all the skills in the world but these 2 are just a bad stylistic match up for him, I'd gives Groves a better chance against Smith. I hope Groves can clean up Cox in a destructive performance but I kind of think Cox has a bad style for him too. Cox has a rugged style, good stamina and I think he is pretty tough too. I don't think he has the speed or punching power though and he's very small for the weight. Groves would still beat Degale IMO.
Yildrim takes a brutal beating, one dimensional slow and open for eubank to land all night long but tough enough to take far more punishment than necessary.
Eubank Jr by SD or close UD for me. However, that doesn't necessarily mean I want Junior to win; I wouldn't mind Yildirim beating Eubank Jr, thus throwing a spanner in the mooted Groves vs Eubank Jr works.
I guess that was Team Eubank's thinking behind selecting Yildirim; although Yildirim tends to press the action for the majority of rounds if not the entire round, and will throw significantly more shots than the old version of Abraham who Junior shut out.
Tough fight to call because Anvi is still a question mark. If he's the real deal, what he's being sold to us as... a solid hitting non-stop pressure fighter... he has a great chance at an upset. If not, we're in for a typical Eubank Jr fight.
This yildirim looks terribly slow, and im not sure he even hits very hard, Eubank UD/late Ref stoppage
Think CEJ wins on points. He's the quicker fighter and whilst he doesn't seem to have serious pop in his shots I think he'll be landing 2,3 or 4 shots to Yildirim's 1. It'll get interesting if Yildirim starts bearing CEJ at his own game and forces CEJ to fight on the back foot, his lack of jab could be evident.
Gimme Eubank on points. Yildirim should have his moments, but I don't think he'll have enough of them. Should be an entertaining scrap.
The copious amount of shockingly bad decisions this year has probably been the major contributing factor towards that.