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| Date | 7 October 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | IBO super middleweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eubank Jr. defeats Yıldırım in the 3rd round via KO. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chris Eubank Jr vs. Avni Yildirim was a professional boxing match contested on 7 October 2017, for the IBO super middleweight championship. [1] The bout was also a WBC super middleweight title eliminator.
At the WBSS draft Gala, held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 8 July 2017, Chris Eubank Sr., picked the undefeated Avni Yıldırım to face his son, with the winner to face the winner of the all british clash between George Groves and Jamie Cox. [2] The fight was confirmed following Eubank Jr.'s win over Arthur Abraham on the 15 July. [3] [4] Promoter Kalle Sauerland said official confirmation of a venue and date would be announced in the coming weeks. [5] On 8 August 2017 it was announced that the fight would take place on 7 October at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, marking it the second time Eubank would be fighting outside the UK since turning professional. [6] It was also the second quarter final of the WBSS following Callum Smith's victory over Erik Skoglund three weeks earlier.
During a pre fight press conference, Ahmet Öner, Yıldırım's manager, got into a one-sided confrontation with Eubank's camp. Öner called Eubank arrogant, threatened to knock someone out, and yelled "When you laugh, you son of a bitch, I fuck your wife in your bed!" at a man off-stage. [7] [8]
The undercard featured a 10-round bout between former Olympians Stefan Härtel and Viktor Polyakov, which was controversially won by Härtel by majority decision. Upon being announced, the decision was booed by the audience at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle. A brawl broke out in the stands moments before the main event. [9]
On fight night, Eubank Jr. used his hand speed and power shots to dominate Yıldırım. A uppercut in the first round, caused Yildirim's knee to touch the canvas prompting referee Leszek Jankowiak to administer a ten count. In the third round a flurry of unanswered shots ending with a left hook to the head dropped Yıldırım. The referee stopped the fight without completing a count, whilst Yıldırım attempted to get up. [10] [11]
At ringside after the fight, Eubank Jr. stated, "I'm here to dominate this tournament. I'm sending a message out there that I'm coming. George Groves, get through your next fight so we can give the boxing fans what they want to see."
The next quarter final was held a week later between Groves and Cox.
Confirmed bouts: [12]
Avetik Abrahamyan, best known as Arthur Abraham, is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF middleweight title from 2005 to 2009, and the WBO super-middleweight title twice between 2012 and 2016.
Anthony Dirrell is an American professional boxer. He was a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title in 2019 and previously from 2014 to 2015. He is the younger brother of 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell, who is also a professional boxer.
Billy Joe Saunders is a British professional boxer. He is the first fighter from the Travelling community to win world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title from 2015 to 2018 and the WBO super-middleweight title from 2019 to 2021. At regional level, he held the European, British, and Commonwealth middleweight titles between 2012 and 2015. Saunders represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics as an amateur, reaching the second round of the welterweight bracket. In the same year, he won gold at the EU Championships.
James Frederick DeGale is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2019. He held the IBF super-middleweight title twice between 2015 and 2018, and regionally the European and British super-middleweight titles between 2010 and 2012.
Christopher Livingstone Eubank Jr. is a British professional boxer. He is the son of former two-division world champion boxer, Chris Eubank.
George Groves is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2018. He held the WBA (Super) super-middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. At regional level, he held multiple super-middleweight titles, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles between 2010 and 2014. As an amateur, Groves won the ABA middleweight title twice in 2007 and 2008.
Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán, commonly known as Canelo or Saúl Álvarez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of those weight classes and lineal titles in two. In 2021, Álvarez became the first and only boxer in history to become the undisputed champion at super middleweight, holding this distinction until July 2024. He has also held the Ring magazine super middleweight title since 2020.
Robert Brant is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) middleweight title from 2018 to 2019.
Callum John Smith is an English professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles from 2018 to 2020. At regional level, he held the British and European super-middleweight titles between 2015 and 2017. In 2018 he won the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament, winning the Muhammad Ali trophy in the process. He is the youngest of the Smith brothers—Paul, Stephen, and Liam—all of whom are professional boxers.
Erik Skoglund is a Swedish professional boxer.
Avni Yıldırım is a Turkish professional boxer. He challenged for the WBC super-middleweight title in 2019, and the WBA (Super), WBC, and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles in 2021.
The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) is a professional boxing tournament organised by Comosa AG.
The 2017–18 World Boxing Super Series – super middleweight division was a World Boxing Super Series professional boxing tournament taking place between September 2017 and September 2018 in several countries. The Super Series features 8 top-rated super middleweight boxers in a single-elimination tournament. Its winner will hold the WBA's world title, The Ring Magazine title, as well as the Muhammad Ali trophy. The tournament was organized by Comosa AG. A cruiserweight tournament is held concurrently, with prize money for both competitions totalling US$50 million.
ITV Box Office was a pay-per-view channel from ITV plc launched in February 2017, and ceased operations in January 2020. The channel was available in HD-only on Sky, and events were also available on demand only on Virgin Media (UK) and TVPlayer. It was the only ITV channel that was broadcast in Ireland on Sky.
Callum Smith vs. Erik Skoglund was a professional boxing match contested on 16 September 2017.
George Groves vs. Jamie Cox was a professional boxing match contested on 14 October 2017, for the WBA super middleweight championship.
Jürgen Brähmer vs. Robert Brant was a professional boxing match contested on 27 October 2017.
George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr. was a professional boxing match contested on 17 February 2018, for the WBA Super Middleweight championship.
Callum Smith vs. Nieky Holzken was a professional boxing match contested on 24 February 2018.
George Groves vs. Callum Smith was a professional boxing match contested on 28 September 2018, for the WBA and The Ring Super Middleweight championship.
