Chris Eubank Jr. vs Anatoli Muratov Preview Oct. 2nd, 2021
Former IBO Super Middleweight Champion Chris Eubank Jr. of England takes on Anatoli Muratov of Ukraine in a 12-round middleweight tilt in London’s Wembley Arena this Saturday, Oct. 2nd. The fight can be seen live on Sky Sports Arena in the UK and Ireland. Eubank last fought in May when he beat Marcus Morrison by a 10-round unanimous decision. Muratov last saw action just a couple of weeks ago on Sept. 18 when he stopped Gyorgy Varju in just 155 seconds. Eubank was originally supposed to meet Sven Elbir this weekend but he pulled out due to a positive Covid-19 test.
Eubank Jr. vs Muratov Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Anatoli Muratov +1800
- Chris Eubank Jr. -10000
My Pick
The 32-year-old Eubank enters the ring at 30-2 with 22 Kos to his name. He won the IBO Super Middleweight Title in 2017 when he stopped Renold Quinlan in the 10th round. He then defended it against Arthur Abraham and Avni Yildirim before losing the belt to George Groves via a unanimous decision in 2018. His first pro defeat came in 2014 when Billy Joe Saunders beat him by split decision for the European, British and Commonwealth Middleweight Championship Belts.
Eubank also has a win over James DeGale by unanimous decision in 2019 to regain the IBO Super Middleweight crown. However, Eubank has since dropped down in weight to compete as a middleweight. He possesses good power and boxing skills and has 196 rounds of experience since turning pro in 2011. He’s also beaten Nick Blackwell, Dmitrii Chudinov, Gary O’Sullivan and Bradley Price.
Eubank stands 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 72.5-inch and has often displayed impressive power up to now with a current knockout ratio of 68.8 per cent. He’s been wobbled and cut a couple of times in the ring, but also has a solid chin. Eubank’s at his best when he overwhelms his opponent with his relentless punching and is hard to keep at bay because of it. However, he isn’t the hardest guy to hit if he gets goaded into a slugfest, but most boxers prefer not to go toe-to-toe with him. Saunders beat him by outboxing him in a close fight while the loss against Groves was more of a brawl.
As for the late substitute Muratov, he’s 33 years old and fights put of Germany. He enters the bout with a mark of 24-2-1 with 17 Kos but has been stopped twice. He was halted by Juan De la Rosa in the fifth round in 2013 and stopped by Philipp Kolodziej in the sixth stanza a year later in a fight for the vacant German International Super Middleweight Title. His lone draw was an eight-round affair with Siarhei Huliakevich last October.
Muratov made his pro debut in 2012 and has boxed 115 rounds since. He beat Ramazi Gogichashvili by an eight-round unanimous decision in 2015 for something called the vacant Universal Boxing Federation European Super Middleweight Title and managed to capture the German belt by stopping Dejan Milicevic in the ninth round in 2018. He then won the WBA Inter Continental Middleweight Belt in 2019 by stopping Ilias Essaoudi in the third round.
Muratov has fought mainly in Europe against lower level competition and will be stepping up in class this weekend against Eubank. He has pretty good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 63 per cent but has a questionable chin. There’s no height and reach information available on him either so we don’t know how he stacks up size-wise against Eubank.
Prediction…
Muratov is a last-minute replacement and heavy underdog but he has been active recently and that may work to his favour. However, he’s not in Eubank’s class at this stage of their careers and with a somewhat susceptible chin he really only has a puncher’s chance in this fight. I’m expecting Eubank Jr to emerge with a win in this keep-busy clash.
The more experienced Eubank should prevail.
Play: Eubank Jr. -10000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Anatoli Muratov betting • Chris Eubank betting