Harlem Eubank stayed unbeaten and picked up the twentieth victory of his profession by defeating Nurali Erdogan on factors in Newcastle.
The 30-year-old was making his debut at welterweight, however put in a largely uneven efficiency over eight rounds in opposition to France’s Erdogan.
All three judges noticed it for Eubank, scoring the competition 77-73, 79-70 and 77-72.
“Completely different type tonight, first battle at welterweight, powerful man who simply needed to tie up,” Eubank mentioned of the battle.
“I went in there to get the job achieved. A unanimous determination win, I am joyful.”
Of the grappling, Eubank positioned the blame on his opponent, saying: “I felt robust in there, the grabbing made it troublesome.”
Eubank final fought simply over 12 months in the past and confirmed apparent indicators of ring rust as he by no means actually discovered his rhythm.
Erdogan, 27, was meant to be smooth introduction to the welterweight division, with only one stoppage in 16 wins – however Eubank was untidy from the primary bell.
He was warned repeatedly about holding, however it was Erdogan who was deducted two factors for it within the second half of the bout.
In a battle missing any actual motion, Eubank was wobbled momentarily by a left hook within the fifth spherical, however was in any other case untroubled by the visibly larger Erdogan.
Eubank, who battled by a reduce for the final two rounds, was ultimately deducted some extent within the remaining minutes, however Erdogan’s earlier level deductions had already secured a win for the Briton.
Eubank, the cousin of fellow boxer Chris Eubank Jr, was because of battle Adam Azim at light-welterweight however the bout by no means materialised, regardless of the pair dealing with off within the ring in March through the Fabio Wardley v Frazer Clarke card.
Talking of future fights, neither Eubank or his staff talked about Azim, however mentioned they had been focusing on “massive issues” in 2025.
