Eubank vs Wagner Predictions: Harlem looks to restore the family name

Harlem Eubank takes on Josh Wagner this Friday, November 21 at the Brighton Centre. The welterweight contest will be broadcast live on Channel 5. The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds and headlines a card featuring big-punching cruiser Lucas Roehrig and unbeaten Irishman Kieran Molloy.

Read on for my Eubank vs Wagner predictions.

Eubank vs Wagner Odds 

Eubank is a comfortable 2/7 favourite for this one. Wagner comes in at 3/1 at the time of writing. You can back the draw at 16/1.

Eubank vs Wagner Fight Preview

It has been a mixed year for the boxing Eubank family. Chris Eubank Jr. won an utter war with Conor Benn back in April before losing heavily in their rematch last weekend. For Harlem, an enthralling stoppage of Tyrone McKenna was followed by disappointment in the biggest fight of his career.

Eubank was enlisted to serve as the foil for Jack Catterall’s 147-pound debut back in July. ‘El Gato’ was dismissive of Harlem, telling me in an interview for our YouTube channel, “If he wasn’t a Eubank it probably wouldn’t have made much sense”. A few days later, his opponent told me, “It’s been Eubank supremacy and that will remain”.

It did not quite pan out that way. An ugly fight at the Co-op Arena in Manchester went to the scorecards in the seventh round, after a cut sustained during an accidental head clash left Catterall unable to continue. Eubank lost via technical decision, prematurely ending a career-changing opportunity.

So Harlem goes back to what he knows, headline fights on Channel 5 against fringe names. Millions have watched Eubank box on the terrestrial broadcaster, but his level of opposition has been mixed at best. The Catterall fight should have been the beginning of something for the 31-year-old. But it risks being the end of something. 

Eubank was tentative on the night. He would argue he was being tactical. But Catterall walked away with the decision without doing anything special. He just outworked a man in Eubank who was barely throwing punches.

Such reluctance is unlikely to mar this fight. Wagner is no ‘El Gato’. The 19-1 brawler is 33 years of age and has held the IBF international title. Wagner lost that in defence number-one via knockout to David Papot.

Nothing the Canadian does will surprise Eubank. Wagner likes to come forward and look for big shots. 10 knockouts in 19 wins indicates that the power might not be there, but the mohicaned-mauler has out-hustled plenty of opponents. The quiet Eubank of the Catterall fight will struggle.

But I do not expect the Brit to fight like that here. Wagner is pretty straight-up, not providing much of a moving target. He looks made for a back-foot counter-puncher to out-box all night long. But will an easy decision win increase the public appetite for Eubank to return to the big stage? That is debatable.

Eubank vs Wagner Full Card

Harlem Eubank vs Josh Wagner

Lucas Roehrig vs Brice Clavier

Kieran Molloy vs Zeuz Varguez Soberanis

Niall Brown vs Pierre Rosadini

Codie Smith vs Franco Andres Cajal

Harvey Dykes vs Viktar Chvarkou

Yuvraj Karia vs Brandon Gallardo Vargas

Saqib Mehmood vs Jayro Fernando Duran

Younes Baati vs Ezequiel Gregores

Eubank vs Wagner Prediction

This fight is less about if Eubank can win and more about how he wins. Big numbers on Channel 5 are all well and good, but it is what you do in front of those eyeballs that counts. While Josh Kelly ascended from the millions-strong platform to secure a world title shot, Eubank is yet to make that jump.

Beating Wagner on points won’t be enough to get him there. But I think that is how this one goes. Nice punch-picking, superior movement, excellent speed. But Eubank won’t dazzle in the same way his 50 Cent-wielding cousin did in his entrance, if not his fight, at Spurs last week. Eubank by decision is 6/5.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.