Chris Eubank Jr. faces Tommy Langford on Oct. 22 after GGG talk

Aug

Photo courtesy of Matchroom Boxing

Chris Eubank Jr. elected to face a former sparring partner rather than Gennady Golovkin.

Eubank once spoke of fighting Gennady Golovkin anytime and of threatening to have Golovkin’s titles “ripped away.” But when it came to signing for the fight, Eubank balked and a fight couldn’t be made for the fall.

Instead, Eubank (23-1, 18 knockouts) will defend his British middleweight title against undefeated Tommy Langford, a former sparring partner, on Oct. 22 at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales — more than a month after Golovkin faces Kell Brook for his middleweight titles. British junior middleweight titleholder Liam Wilson (15-0-1, 10 KOs) will face Ahmet Patterson(17-0, 7 KOs) in a double main-event bill with Eubank-Langford, promoter Frank Warren announced.

Langford (17-0, 6 KOs) is Eubank’s mandatory opponent for his British title; the two are familiar from their days as sparring partners and Langford believes his familiarity with his opponent gives him an edge. “We’ve sparred in the recent past and, though you can’t take too much into that, I know what he does well and what he doesn’t do well and believe my style exploits his,” Langford said in a press release. “Sure, Chris Jr. is dangerous but Billy Joe Saunders exposed his limitations with his quality and movement. I know I’ve got the tools to beat him. I’m delighted that he’s stepped up to face me after fears he could vacate.”