NATE VASQUEZ believes Chris Eubank Jr has listened and learned ahead of tonight’s grudge match with James DeGale - but says it is now up to him to put it into action.

Vasquez was brought in by Eubank Jr from the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas as the Brighton fighter admitted he needed a tailor-made strategy to overcome two-time world champion and Olympic gold medal winner DeGale.

Eubank Jr has had all the experience of veteran trainer Ronnie Davies in his corner in the past as well as his father, Chris senior, but has seemed reluctant to heed their advice.

Vasquez admits it is now up to the fighter himself to stick to the game plan at the O2 Arena.

Vasquez said: “Everything has gone great and the camp has gone smooth.

“Myself and Ronnie have worked great together and Senior has been down a few times.”

Asked if Eubank Jr would now listen to advice, Vasquez told The Argus: “Exactly. You can train in the gym and he is doing everything I say, and in sparring he is doing everything I say, but it’s just if he takes it into the ring on the night.

“It doesn’t matter in the gym, it matters on the night and I think he will.”

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Vasquez is confident Eubank Jr has faith in him, or he would not have brought him over to the south coast and put him up in his home along with chief sparring partner Denis Douglin. Vasquez said: “He could have brought in a lot of people.

“In the Mayweather Gym you’ve got Floyd Senior (Mayweather), you’ve got Jeff (Mayweather), Otis Pimpleton Jr, Eddie Mustafa and me.

“You have great trainers in there and he chose me so I must have gotten through to him, someway or some how, and he asked me to work with him.”

Vasquez has focused on Eubank Jr’s defence, punch output and footwork and admits a good start will be vital.

He said: “You can’t go out there and lose the first couple of rounds because it’s never good to play catch-up.

“Once someone gets a lead they are going to sail through so you can’t let it happen.”

Questions have been asked about Eubank Jr’s chances against another proven world level fighter after he lost to Billy Joe Saunders in 2014 and George Groves a year ago in the WBSS semi-finals.

His own father admitted he was “petrified” his son would lose at Thursday’s final presser while chief sparring partner Douglin, now back in Vegas, has been quoted as saying he believes DeGale will be too “crafty” for his former landlord.

Davies, who trained senior during his heyday, remains the constant in the Team Eubank set-up.

He knows the threat Degale poses but feels people would be stupid to write off Eubank Jr’s chances.

“He can beat him but DeGale is a really proven fighter”, said Davies.

“He has won everything, from schoolboys to Olympics and world titles and it is hard to do that. He has got to be special to do that, plus he is a southpaw.

“I’ve had inside information and he’s been looking very good, so he is in for a hard fight but he can win it.”

He added: “With the Groves fight, Eubank Jr didn’t perform.

“I thought he could have beaten him but he did not box properly.

“He rushed his work so he smothered his own punching power inside.

“It wasn’t a good performance and he got beat - it’s as simple as that.

“But everyone in history gets beat. Archie Moore got beat and Henry Cooper got knocked out three times in a row and still came back and won titles.

“You don’t just write off a person because they lost a fight.

“Nobody moaned and said how bad he was when he fought in Germany and beat Avni Yildirim and that guy allegedly knocked DeGale’s teeth out.

“Yildirim has had six fights since then and won every one of them and is fighting for a world title now.

“That was a brilliant performance and no one said anything about bad sparring and training then did they?

“He had one defeat and everybody said he needs a new this and that, and a new trainer.”