A couple of notes from around the boxing world:
A day after Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced that he had signed middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. and that he would fight on the undercard of heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua’s defense against Dominic Breazeale on June 25 at the O2 Arena in London, Hearn announced Ebank’s opponent at a Thursday news conference. Eubank (21-1, 17 KOs), 26, of England, will defend his British middleweight title for the first time against Tom Doran (17-0, 7 KOs), 28, of Wales. The fight will be part of the Sky Sports pay-per-view telecast in the United Kingdom.
“Tom is going to try to cause an upset and we’re going to put on a dramatic night of action,” Eubank said. “It’s one fight at a time, but when you know you are working towards a superfight it plays a part -- but it makes me train harder and focus more, as I know with every fight I am moving towards a top fight with [Gennady] Golovkin or anyone that has a world title fight. I am not looking past Tom. He knows beating me gets him to world level and massive publicity, so he is going to come to fight on June 25. But I will get past him and move on to massive nights.”
DiBella entertainment announced the undercard for the fight between welterweight titlist Keith Thurman and former titleholder Shawn Porter on June 25 (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Although these fights probably won’t make the telecast unless there are early knockouts, junior middleweight prospects Jarrett Hurd (17-0, 11 KOs) and Oscar Molina (13-0, 10 KOs) will meet in a 10-rounder, and red-hot light heavyweight prospect and big puncher David Benavidez (14-0, 13 KOs) will take on Francy Ntetu (16-0, 3 KOs) in an eight-round fight. The card will also feature popular local draws Heather Hardy (16-0, 4 KOs) in a women’s junior featherweight fight and Polish heavyweight Adam Kownacki (13-0, 10 KOs). Their opponents are to be determined. Also on the card against opponents to be announced: top junior welterweight prospect Regis Prograis (17-0, 14 KOs) in a 10-rounder, 2012 Spanish Olympian Jonathan Alonso (8-0, 4 KOs) in a six-round junior welterweight bout and Mayweather Promotions welterweight prospect Josue Vargas (4-0, 3 KOs) in a four-rounder.