Chris Eubank Jr. avenged a sensational fourth round stoppage defeat to Liam Smith in January by stopping Smith in 11 rounds. The “next gen” scored two knockdowns, and won every session en route to his 33rd professional win.

(Photo: skysports.com)

Chris Eubank Jr. entered the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday with his career at the world level hanging in the balance. 

According to The Sporting News, Chris Eubank Jr. said that what happened was supposed to happen in January. Chris Eubank Jr. stated that he trained hard, he had to fight some demons with a lot of things to prove. Chris Eubank Jr. also added that he had t live for six months knowing that most people said about him was not true. Chris Eubank Jr. says he enjoys new challenged and to rise to the occasion when he has to.

The middleweight division is open at present and Chris Eubank Jr. is sure to hold a spot with most governing bodies. The names Chris Eubank Jr. has mentioned post fight were Conor Benn, and former unified champion Gennadiy Golovkin.

The Sporting News gathered the opinion from members of the combat team to produce a Top 12 list at middleweight.

12. Austin Williams. This texas based left, also known as Ammo, continues to impress and is closing in on a top 10 position.

11. Felix Cash. The 30 year old is undoubtedly talented ad has a bright future. But he has averaged just one fight a year for the past three years and its time for him to break free of the pack.

10. Elijah Garcia. The Arizona based youngster moved up in class this year and has already knocked off the unbeaten Amilcar Vidal Jr and Kevin Zambrano.

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Chris Eubank Jr. exited on the cusp of a middleweight championship opportunity.

9. Vincenzo Gualteri. The unbeaten German has boxed exclusively out of his home country since turning professional in 2015. Far from being a household name, he is actually the IBF middleweight champion of the world.

8. Liam Smith. The former WBO super welterweight champion is an excellent pro and a handful for anyone at his best.

7. Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Ukrainian veteran is 2-5 in his last seven bouts. All of these were super competitive and more decisions could have easily gone his way.

6. Meiirim Nursultanov. The Kazakhstan export is a tall and powerful contender who is flying up the rank, while highly rated by the WBO, he is likely to pursue the WBC route.

5. Erislandy Lara. Lara remains the finest technician in the middlewight division, he holds the WBA middleweight championship currently,

4. Chris Eubank Jr.. He deserves a shot at gold. The IBO belt was in his possession bt that is fools gold and the WBA title is not much better.

3. Carlos Adames. The 29 year old is long overdue a world title and has the results to prove it. Adames won his first 18 fights before he came unstuck to Teixerira. But he bounced back with straight wins.

2. Zhanibek Alimkhanuly. He is tabbed as the “new Golovkin.” After two successful defenses, he will take on IBF titleholder Gualteiri on October 14.

1. Gennadiy Golovkin. The most decorated 160 pounder in the world. He has over 20 middleweight fights and has only list once.

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