Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Tom Doran Set, June 25 At O2 Arena

By Elliot Foster

Chris Eubank Jr. will return to the ring next month.

The 26-year-old Brighton man will defend the aforementioned coveted Lonsdale belt against WBC International champion Tom Doran (17-0, 7 KOs) on June 25 at the O2 Arena in London, as part of the undercard to Anthony Joshua’s first defence of the IBF world heavyweight title against undefeated American Dominic Breazeale.

The news of his comeback was revealed on Wednesday after he signed a new two-fight promotional deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sport.

Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs), whose last outing was a 10-round stoppage of now-retired Nick Blackwell in March in a challenge for the British middleweight crown, will be back in action exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office.

And he will hope that another win, coupled with his lofty WBA ranking of number two, will result in him fighting for a world title at some point within the next 12 months.

Doran, 28, from Connahs Quay, is going into the fight on the back of a showreel knockout victory over Luke Keeler in April. The Welshman stopped Dublin’s Keeler inside two rounds at Liverpool’s ECHO Arena, but was forced to get up off the canvas after a heavy knockdown in the opener to floor his man with a vicious left hook before referee Ian-John Lewis called a halt to proceedings.

Eubank Jr. was last seen on Sky Sports when he stopped Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan inside seven rounds.

Also on the bill, Dillian Whyte will return to the ring for the first time since December, when he was stopped at the hands of Joshua, those contests will be flanked by a domestic super-middleweight dust-up between Martin Murray and George Groves, which will double up as an eliminator for the WBA world title held by Giovani De Carolis.

Elsewhere, Conor Benn will fight for the third time as a professional and John Wayne Hibbert will face Andrea Scarpa for the vacant WBC Silver super-lightweight title.

And there is action for Ted Cheeseman and new Matchroom signing Felix Cash, who will make his debut having left Team GB.

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