Chris Eubank Jr, dressed in native Saudi dress and alongside new coach Johnathon Banks, unleashed the odd bead of sweat at the open workouts in Saudi Arabia to promote this Saturday’s Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol event. Eubank takes on Kamil Szeremeta on the undercard.
“This is the outfit of the Saudis,” he said when asked to explain his outfit choice. “It’s a privilege to be here and it’s an excuse to sweat it out, I still need to lose a few pounds.
"I’ve trained hard for a long time for this fight.”
Eubank Jr is reported to be in the running for a showdown with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez but must first get past 34-year-old perennial middleweight contender Szeremeta, who lost to Gennady Golovkin in 2020.
Eubank has been out of the ring since beating Liam Smith last September, avenging defeat from eight months previously in the process. The acknowledgement about still having weight to shift is either a nod to the aging process or some gameplay – he’s always prided himself in making the middleweight limit without a problem.
“It took me extra time to get back,” he said. “I’ve been off for a year but I’m here I’m fully focused, I’m fit and I’ve still got a couple of pounds to lose for this fight. We’re ready to go.”
Now for the vaguely interesting stuff.
When asked why he is now trained by Johnathon Banks, Eubank said: “I like Johnathon Banks’ philosophy, his mind set, and his teaching. I like everything that he says and the things that he does in training. He also trained GGG for this exact opponent. He’s got the ingredients and the knowhow how to beat this man.”