Eubank Jr. To Face Dmitry Chudinov On Fury-Hammer Bill

By Jake Donovan

Despite having lost his last fight, second-generation middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. is being steered towards a title for his next fight. Perhaps it's fitting that the belt is of the sham variety, as Frank Warren announced on Tuesday that the boxer will next face interim titlist Dmitry Chudinov on February 28 at O2 Arena in London, England.

The bout will serve as the chief support to Tyson Fury's stay-busy fight versus Christian Hammer while awaiting a crack at World heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko. Both fights will air live on BoxNation TV in the United Kingdom.

Eubank Jr. (18-1, 13KOs) enters what is billed as his first major title fight on the heels of the first loss of his career, a narrow split decision at the hands of in-country rival Billy Joe Saunders. More so than the loss, the bout revealed that both fighters actually have quite a bit more to learn before title fight consideration should come into play.

This being an era where belts are a dime a dozen, both fighters are actually gunning for belts in their next fight. Saunders is the mandatory challenger to recently crowned Andy Lee, who won a vacant belt with a sensational upset knockout of previously unbeaten Matt Korobov. 

By the time that fight happens, Eubank Jr. and Shudinov (14-0-2, 9KOs) will have fought, assuming the matchup remains intact. The obvious plan - as Warren sees it - is for both fighters to capture titles and then meet again in a big event at some point in 2015. 

“For Chris, it was a close fight against Billy and the loss to a big rival would have been hard to take, but he now has a great opportunity to go straight back into the ring and claim a world championship belt and prove that he’s learnt from the loss and show that he’s the real thing.”

Chudinov picked up his interim belt last December and has since made two defenses. 

Eubank Jr. is the son of Chris Eubank, the famed former middleweight and super middleweight champ and an integral part of the U.K. boxing scene during the 1990s.