The BBBofC Middleweight title is on the line this Saturday, March 26th at the Wembley Arena in London as titleholder Nick Blackwell defends his belt against Chris Eubank Jr. The bout has the unusual characteristic that the defending champion Blackwell is entering the fight a big underdog. The books have Blackwell returning at +700, with Eubank coming in a -1100 favorite. The bout is set for 12 rounds, with the over under set at 9 1/2. The over is paying at +125 and the under at -165. Blackwell (19-3-1) is making the third defense of his hard earned British title, and his three losses come to Max Bursak, Billy Joe Saunders and Martin Murray. His match with Saunders is notable because not only did he go the distance with the future world champion, the judges had him losing by scores of 117-112, 116-113, 115-114, which has to make Blackwell feel like he is in the neighborhood. He went 3-0 in 2015, and this is his first bout of the year, and at 25 years old he figures to have several good years ahead of him. But Eubank Jr is the story here. Some circles consider him British boxing royalty, as his father was one of Britain’s premier stars in the 1990’s, while others consider him a pompous second generation fighter riding the coat tails of daddy. At 21-1, Eubank Jr (21-1) holds an interim version of the WBA World title at Middleweight since his February of 2015 win over Dmitry Chudinov, but that belt is not on the line here. The lone loss of Eubank’s career also came at the hands of Billy Joe Saunders, and that was a narrow split decision victory. Eubank has gone 3-0 since that loss and in a way, the bout with Blackwell is redemption, as this is Eubank’s second shot at the British belt. The Saunders fight was for the same belt. The American crowd saw Eubank Jr back in October of 2015 when he whitewashed Tony Jeter in two rounds on Showtime. Eubank Jr will be looking for bigger fights in the future, and he will possibly be looking to debut on American soil. A rematch with Saunders could also be for big money in the UK, and he is expected to outclass the hard-working Blackwell in this one. The support bout comes at Heavyweight over twelve rounds as Hughie Fury (21-1) faces veteran Nagy Aguilera (19-3-1). Fury is the 21 year old cousin of world champion Tyson Fury, and his record stands at a perfect 18-0 at this point in his career. Fury is a -10000 favorite over the veteran Aguilera (20-9) who is returning at +4000. Ther eis no over/under psoted, and Aguilera may be changed as an opponent, however do not look for a replacemet to come with a more competitive line, as Fury is already booked for a follow-up fight at the end of April which is targetted as a step up fight. This one will not be it.
