Chris Eubank Jr. the undercard of Anthony Joshua's IBF heavyweight title fight with Dominic Breazeale at The O2 on 25 June. Tom Doran was announced as Eubank Jr's opponent on 19 May. Eubank had continued to climb up the ladder since joining Matchroom, having achieved a ranking of number two by the WBA and number three by the WBC. Eubank won via 4th-round TKO to retain the British Middleweight title. Doran was down once in the 3rd round and three times in the 4th as the referee waved off the fight. Eubank called out Gennady Golovkin in the post fight interview. It was
Chris Eubank Jr. a month, but we can’t push it back by three or four months. We have a substitute system. We said that from day one, and that’s the situation. We want Groves in the final, but if that’s not possible and he doesn't declare himself fit in the next 10 days, we have to find a solution." On 17 September, Sauerland announced that Eubank would fight Irish boxer JJ McDonagh (16-4, 8 KOs) George Groves vs Callum Smith undercard on 28 September at The Indoor Sports Hall at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Eubank won the fight via