ADAM AZIM could face his biggest challenge to date in his next fight by taking on Harlem Eubank with both parties in advanced talks.
The two met in the ring tonight at London’s O2 Arena to face-off despite nothing being official as of yet.
“I’m ready. This is what I wanted. He may be a Eubank, but I’m an Azim. it’s going to be an Azim takeover,” the champion said during their respectful head to head.
“I don’t believe he wants it. His team clearly want it, his team are clearly excited but I know he doesn’t want,” Eubank said.
Azim, 11-0 (8 KOs), has been earmarked for global success under promoter Ben Shalom and with the backing of Sky Sports. And the 22-year-old Shane McGuigan trained fighter will be looking to send out a message to his fellow domestic rivals when he squares off against Eubank.
Harlem Eubank (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Eubank, who is promoted by Wasserman and trained by Adam Booth, is an improving fighter and has wins over veterans Viorel Simion and Sean Dodd on his record. But in November 2022 he stepped up his level of competition beating Tom Farrell on points at York Hall. Last time out the 30-year-old from Brighton stopped Timo Schwarzkopf in the 11th round to earn a minor WBO belt.
Azim has been in the boxing headlines recently because of his growing rivalry with Dalton Smith. Last November Azim won the European 140lb title against veteran Frenchman Franck Petitjean. And on February 23 the champion defended his belt successfully against Enock Poulsen after the challenger pulled out in the fifth round due to a shoulder injury.
His second defence looked, on paper at least, like potentially coming against Sheffield’s Smith. The European Boxing Union called for purse bids for an Azim-Smith fight and set a purse bid deadline for this coming Wednesday (April 3) at 11am UK time.
Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn went on record recently telling media Azim would not defend the title against Smith. Hearn’s charge stepped up to world level on March 23 dropping 34-year-old Mexican and former world title challenger Jose Zepeda with a body shot in the fifth round in front of his home fans in the Steel City.