Chris Eubank Jr. has withdrawn from his October 22nd BBBofC middleweight title defense against Tommy Langford, citing an injury suffered while sparring against a "fourteen stone opponent." He has also elected to vacate the title, which he won from Nick Blackwell in May.
Team Eubank’s press release has to be seen to be believed. I want to copy-paste it in its entirety, but I’ll content myself with these tidbits:
Eubank Jnr’s management team have advised that, in their opinion, there has not been a fighter in the history of British Boxing who has had such a vast chasm of fighting prowess between him and the contenders for the British Championship in ability, speed, strength, accuracy and skill since its inauguration by the Marquess of Queensbury in the 1800’s.
...
It is now with relief, as it has become clear to Chris Eubank Jnr’s management over these past few months how much danger the health and lives of these contenders are in, therefore the relinquishing of the British Championship due to injury sustained in a sparring session is perhaps a blessing in disguise.
Fair play to the Eubanks; they may be crap at locating pens, but they can humblebrag with the best of them.
Shame about the grammar, though.
The Cardiff card is a fairly stacked one by local British standards, featuring Liam Williams vs. Ahmet Patterson and Bradley Skeete vs. Shayne Singleton among others, so I’d imagine the show will go on. We’ll let you guys know if they manage to scrounge up a solid foe for Langford.