The chief support to the heavyweight showdown between Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury will see unbeaten middleweight fighters Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr face each other for the British, Commonwealth and European titles.
After the pair traded insults during the summer, an agreement was made for the champion Saunders to put his belts on the line against inexperienced challenger Eubank Jr, who doesn't have any significant wins to date, but the highly-anticipated encounter at London's ExCel Arena is considered a 50/50 fight, with both men being given a realistic shot at earning an opportunity to fight for the WBO belt next year.
Below, Sports Mole assesses the credentials of both men before attempting to predict who will emerge as the victor at the weekend.
1. Billy Joe Saunders
Ever since representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games in 2008, Saunders has been tipped to make an impact in the sport above domestic level, and the 25-year-old was given the confidence to progress in the professional game after signing terms with promoter Frank Warren at the age of 19. It was a journey that started at a slow pace but by the time that the Hertfordshire-born fighter had reached a dozen fights, he was stopping opponents in the opening couple of rounds to enhance his reputation in this country.
Saunders won his first notable belt in 2012, picking up the vacant Commonwealth strap, but it wasn't until his second defence where he was expected to face the toughest examination of his career so far against Jarrod Fletcher. The Australian, who has since gone on to challenge for a world title, brought a 12-fight unbeaten record over to London but he was blown away inside two rounds as Saunders began to make his mark at a higher level.
Saunders then overcame Nick Blackwell for the British title, before the end of 2013 witnessed Saunders finish strongly to out-point John Ryder, who some felt had done enough to inflict the champion's first career defeat. The natural progression for Saunders was to compete for the European belt where he faced Emanuele Blandamura, a bout that was competitive until the home fighter ended the match with a stunning stoppage of the Italian to put himself on the brink of a bid for the world title.
© Getty Images
The opportunity was there for Saunders to meet Matt Korobov for the WBO crown but instead, focus has turned to his rivalry with Eubank Jr, who Saunders believes is out of his depth in sharing a ring with him on Saturday night. The trash talk has gone back and forth, with Saunders insisting that his opponent, the son of Chris Eubank Sr, should be grateful of being gifted a chance to catapult himself up the world rankings having never been involved in a 12-round contest and never previously fighting for a title.
The observations made by Saunders are correct, but he can't afford to go into this match with the mindset that this will be an easy night's work. His experience and achievements dwarf that of the challenger but Eubank Jr should prove to be a bigger threat than his last opponent Blandamura, and unless Saunders approaches their meeting expecting the toughest fight of his career, he could quickly find himself at risk of defeat.
That said, if he can force the pace early on and take Eubank Jr out of his comfort zone, Saunders will be able to show why he is considered as the marginal favourite for this fight, but unlike in his past outings, he can't afford to take a round or two off because the more time that Eubank Jr has to work with, the more dangerous he will be on the counter.
2. Chris Eubank Jr
If he weren't the son of a former world champion, it's perhaps fair to say that Eubank Jr wouldn't have attracted as much attention as he has done given his calibre of opposition, but the lack of competitive outings has allowed the 25-year-old to express himself with a swagger and arrogance much like his dad did throughout his glittering career.
Eubank Jr has put together a highlight reel of ruthless knockdowns to coincide with his brash antics inside the ring, while attention frequently comes the way of the 18-win fighter with his corner showdowns with Eubank Sr, but while it is currently unknown how Eubank Jr will cope on the big stage, it's one where there is little reason to doubt that he will relish the chance to dethrone Saunders of his three belts.
© Getty Images
Eubank Sr has claimed that his son is on the same level as one of the world's pound-for-pound kings Gennady Golovkin - a comment that, so far, deserves to be disregarded as fast as it was spoken - but there has been enough spitefulness in Eubank Jr's run of 10 successive knockouts to suggest that he possesses the power to end fights in an instant, much like the Kazakh puncher, and if Saunders plays into his hands, he could shock the ExCel Arena by stopping the champion.
Fans of Eubank Jr will also take heart from his sparring session with IBF and WBA super-middleweight champion Carl Froch ahead of his Wembley encounter with George Groves. Footage emerged of the 160lbs man unleashing a barrage of shots on Froch almost to a point where he was overpowering a man in a higher weight division. Sparring shouldn't mean much when it comes to a live fight, but that display of aggression against Froch has only heightened the intrigue surrounding Eubank Jr.
When Eubank Jr takes to the ring on Saturday night, it will be over three years since his professional debut and we are yet to see him in put in any kind of trouble, but if he can survive the initial wave of attacks by Saunders in the opening three rounds, he could cause enough doubts in Saunders to turn this into one of the biggest see-saw contests that we have seen in 2014.
Prediction
Whether it's a first-round stoppage or a 12-round slugfest, this fight should throw up enough entertainment to justify its hype and it's the uncertainty and heated rivalry that surrounds this showdown that has really captured the imagination of the public and that could see this match upstage the main event.
As mentioned, the eagerness of Saunders to stamp his authority on the fight is likely to see him begin with calculated attacks and Eubank Jr, who eases himself into the opening stanzas, is likely to spend time on the back foot. If the contest continues down that route for 12 rounds, then Saunders will do enough to win on points, but he can't afford to be drawn into getting too confident against an unpredictable opponent.
It's hard to see this one going the distance - although the same was said about Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew and look how that turned out - but despite neither man ever hitting the canvas, this fight should see that run broken with Eubank Jr potentially getting off the floor to triumph later in the fight.
Darren Plant
