HARLEM Eubank doesn’t see his next fight as a significant step up in class.
On Saturday night Eubank faces former world super-lightweight title challenger Jack Catterall at the AO Arena in Manchester.
The last time Catterall fought at welterweight (147lbs) was in his fifth fight – a second round knockout against Tom Price 12 years ago at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Around that time Eubank was four years away from his professional debut. Fast forward to July 2025 and circumstances and call-outs have brought the two together for a high stakes main event this weekend.
Catterall’s supporters will view this as a step down from Arnold Barboza Jr who beat the Brit in February. A WBO interim super-lightweight fight where the winner went on to face the champ – Teofimo Lopez. Barboza did so in May at Times Square, New York. He was outdone, though, by a an elite fighter returning to form.
Eubank has been steady-as-you-go in his own career. Eight years a pro and 21 fights behind him. Moved at a slower pace the 31-year-old believes his last three wins against Nurali Erdogan, Timo Schwarzkopf and Tyrone McKenna prove that he belongs on the big stage. Facing Catterall is not a huge jump up in his eyes.
“In my last three fights I’ve had two stoppages and one points victory,” he tells Boxing News.
“I’ve had inactivity and I’ve stopped guys like Timo Schwarzkopf – a two-time former European champion. *Writer’s note: Schwarzkopf won the EBU External super-lightweight and EBU European Union belts. Not the legitimate European title recently won by Pierce O’Leary, Dalton Smith and Adam Azim.*
“In terms of a leap, I don’t think it’s a leap. Jack is obviously world-class but I’ve been the only one to go in there and stop someone like Schwarzkopf who’s fought at European level and fringe world level – I don’t believe it’s a massive leap. I’ve been in there against guys that have prepared me for this type of challenge. I don’t think it’s a leap, I think it’s another step towards becoming world champion and I think it’s the right step at the right time.”
Whichever way you look at a win for Eubank against Catterall would be a surprise and an upset. Chris Jr’s cousin is moving into world-class territory for the first time in his career. The only person it won’t surprise is Saturday night’s underdog. Eubank will fight live on DAZN, away from the Channel 5 cameras he’s been used to and on a Matchroom Boxing promotion. However, it’s not as if this idea of fighting ‘El Gato’ has been plucked out of thin air. Eubank has had Catterall on his mind since last year.
“He’s considered the best and I believe I’m the best,” Eubank answered when asked why he was determined to fight the Chorley southpaw. “To prove you’re the best you have to go in there and beat the best. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re not trying to get a retired world champion out of retirement, someone that’s been out of the ring five years. We’re in it to be the best in the sport and when I go in there and beat Jack no one can doubt that I can become a world champion. I’ll be right there knocking on the door.”
Eubank tells BN he has been frustrated behind the scenes at not getting the big opportunities. Like any good pro he’s familiar with the word “process” and every other in the boxing dictionary. The Brighton fighter is a good example of the boxing cliché “journey”. In the beginning he was someone with a famous last name, a famous Uncle and cousin – but now he’s one win away from changing his career.
“This is the process of becoming a world-class fighter,” he says. “Having to work diligently behind the scenes, waiting for [an] opportunity to knock and when it does, going in there and performing and that’s what I’ve had to do at every step. I’ve done it at European level and now I’m going in there to do it at world level.”
“After this I’ll be in position to fight any of the top guys in America and the world champions as well,” he adds. “This will put me right in line to fight the best guys in the sport. There’s not a title on the line but people know that Jack’s the top guy in the country. When I beat him I’ll take that place.”
Last weekend Bradley Rea became European light-heavyweight champion by overcoming the 6ft 6ins Shakan Pitters. Rea, two inches smaller, and his team did their best to get sparring partners of similar size and style. Luckily, Eubank only has a man standing 5ft 7ins in front of him to his 5ft 8ins but looking for someone to replicate Catterall in sparring would have been tricky. Crafty, awkward, quick with sharp reflexes – it sounds like an easy list to tick off but the truth is there aren’t many top operators out there who fight like him.
“Jack can do many different things,” Eubank says of his next opponent. “He obviously has things that he prefers to do in there which you can see. He’s a well-rounded fighter, he’s not a one trick pony. In terms of preparation we got in different guys that can do a whole manner of things that Jack does and different guys that present different looks that he comes in with as well. It’s just a case of preparing for everything that he does well and we’ve done that.”
Catterall pushed former undisputed super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor to his limit and should have got the nod in February 2022 in Glasgow. The Englishman avenged the controversial loss last year in Leeds but last time out fell short against Barboza. Fans expected Catterall to carry on his winning run, beat the Californian and move on to a shot against Lopez. While that didn’t materialise when Catterall is at his very best he is a puzzle that, really, only Barboza has managed to solve.
When it comes to the crowd-pleasing side of fighting, however, Catterall may not be the first fighter you would buy a ticket for but you have to admire his ability. Some may describe him as “boring”, while others may describe him as “effective.” BN asked Eubank if he thought the criticism Catterall receives is fair.
“The objective is to go in there and win,” he answers. “It’s not about he does this or he does that or whatever people say outside the ring. The goal is to go in there and come out victorious. That is the objective. Nothing else matters in terms of boxing. No one cares about dudes that are saying how exciting they are but they come out second best. The goal is to come out on top at all costs. He’s done that many times so he’s proven himself in the sport and it’s time for me to prove myself.”
The May 2 Ring magazine card in Times Square turned out to be one where all that mattered was getting the win. Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney and Rolando Romero all did that against Arnold Barboza, Jose Carlos Ramirez and Ryan Garcia. The venue – Times Square – was vibrant, attractive and will go down as one of boxing’s more unique settings. The action inside the ring, sadly, was instantly forgettable.
Turki Alalshikh did not directly use the event as an example but recently he called for no more “Tom and Jerry” fights. No longer does boxing’s most powerful man want runners in the ring. Posting on X last month he wrote, “From this point on, I don’t want to see any more Tom and Jerry-type boxing matches where one fighter is running around the ring and the other is chasing him. We can no longer support these kind of fights with Riyadh Season and The Ring. We want to support fighters who leave it all in the ring and fight with heart and pride.”
Eubank understands Alalshikh’s desire for entertainment because he more or less calls the shots.
“But you can’t deny someone’s boxing ability because of what style they choose to come out victorious in a fight with,” Eubank says. “But Turki is paying for what he wants to see so let the man take what he wants to see but boxing doesn’t revolve around that. Boxing is a sport in itself.”
