Era of the Junior: Eubank, Collins and Chavez Jr

Steve Collins and Chris Eubank, two of the most respected warriors to step into a boxing ring in recent times. Both men were involved in massive fights in the super middleweight division which included two fights against each other that Steve Collins won on both occasions.

Both of these warriors now have sons that are looking to make an impact in the boxing world. Steve Collins Jr is a cruiserweight and Chris Eubank Jr campaigns at middleweight. Steve Collins Jr looks as strong as an ox but he looks raw and his lack of amateur experience has shown in his two professional contests thus far. It looks unlikely that he will go on to emulate his father’s achievements in the sport, but he's also reportedly a keen rugby player and could find success there.

Now Chris Eubank Jr may look like the real deal to the casual boxing fan, but he’s really just living off his dad’s name. He even uses the same ring entrance tune as his father in ‘Simply the best’. I think he should live in his dads shadow and make his own name. He is currently 13-0 with 8 KO's which at a glance is an impressive record; however, if you look closely he has been matched very carefully so far. He usually gets a weight advantage or faces an opponent that gets little notice. Any opponent with a name has been past their best. He should be looking to step up in class by now. After all you have to beat the best to be the best.

It's not as if everyone is running scared of Eubank Jr, in fact they are queuing up to beat him. The likes of James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders, Gary O'Sullivan and Adam Etches are itching at the chance to get stuck into him but he doesn't appear to want those fights. If he was as good as he and his dad make out he is, then they would jump at the chance to face these fighters. He should stop strutting around the ring with arrogance as if he's the best thing since sliced bread and take a proper fight. I personally don't think Eubank Jr will win a world title like his father, the real Chris Eubank. In fact, I doubt he'll win a British title unless he grows a pair and mixes it with the best of our fighters at domestic level.

If you are a deluded Eubank Jnr fan and fancy a flutter, you can get 7/2 for Chris Eubank Jr to win a world title before 2020. I’d advise you to keep your money firmly in your pocket. Chris Eubank Snr has got more chance of winning another world title than his son has.

His arrogance shows in the fact that he's made a twitter account and hasn't bothered to follow a single person, despite having over 80,000 followers, whereas most boxers use twitter to interact with their fans and fellow boxers but not Chris Euabank Jr, he's too good for everyone.

Whilst on the topic of boxers living off their dads names I talked in a recent blog post about Julio Cesar Chazez Jr being shown favouritism by the WBC governing body. I say again, this clearly has something to do with his dad Julio Cesar Chavez being a boxing legend with an astonishing 115 fight career.

The difference between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Chris Eubank Jr is that Chavez Jr has already mixed it at the highest level and is a quality operator inside the ring, with fifty one fights and only one defeat at the hands future hall of famer Sergio Martinez.

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James DeRailed by WBChavez

Yesterday, a spanner was thrown into the works of the super-middleweight division by the WBC governing body. There were reports that Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been placed into the number one spot for a shot at Sakio Bika’s WBC crown, ahead of James DeGale MBE.

If these reports are correct, then it’s not fair. DeGale is the current WBC silver champion and was set to fight Badou Jack in an eliminator with the winner to face Bika. This was until Badou Jack was stopped in the first round against Derek Edwards, on Friday night. DeGale kept his focus on Saturday night and went on to stop Gervorg Khatchikian in the eleventh round, in a defence of his WBC silver title. It appeared that in doing so, he had earned himself a mandatory spot to challenge Bika in his next fight, live on Channel Five.

Also on Saturday night, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr fought in a rematch with Brian Vera for the vacant WBC Continental Americas title, which he won with a promising display, all three judges scoring it in favour of Chavez Jr.

It looks as though the WBC is showing favouritism towards Chavez Jr, as he's the son of Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez. If this is the case then it's harsh on James DeGale. He was set to face Marco Antonio Periban in an eliminator but the Mexican didn't want the fight, then Badou Jack lost and this looks to have derailed DeGale's route to a world title, for now anyway. I think the majority of boxing fans would agree it is wrong, whether they're a fan of DeGale or not. The bottom line is he deserves his shot.

I believe the fairest scenario would be to set up a final eliminator between James DeGale and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr with the winner getting to face Sakio Bika. DeGale was meant to be fighting for an eliminator in the first place. He shouldn't be completely shafted out of the picture because the WBC is favouring Chavez Jr.

If the WBC awarded DeGale his well-deserved shot and he was victorious against the current champion Bika, which I believe he would be, then how about a massive domestic unification fight down the line, with the winner of Froch v Groves 2? Could you imagine Froch v DeGale or Groves v DeGale 2 with three world titles on the line? I can, now there’s a thought.

If James was given his well-deserved shot then they'd probably have to make Chavez Jr the mandatory challenger for his first defence, or something along those lines. As it stands though, it looks as if Chavez Jr is going to get the shot ahead of DeGale.

I know a lot of boxing fans that aren't too keen on James DeGale, they either don't rate him, or find him arrogant. I admit he's not to everyone's taste and hasn't always been in the biggest fights since the loss to George Groves, but you can't deny he has a ridiculous amount of skill and talent. Let's face the facts, you don't win an Olympic gold medal and get awarded the MBE if you're not an exceptional boxer!

I hope the WBC sees sense, and either gives DeGale the shot, or sets up an eliminator against Chavez JR. Let's be honest, you wouldn't want to be screwed over the way James Degale has in any way, shape or form, would you?

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