Joshua thinks Eubank Jr. could beat Golovkin

By Boxing News - 06/24/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: While few boxing fans believe that #2 WBA, #2 WBC Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) has any chance at all of beating IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) in their proposed fight for September, IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua believes Eubank Jr. could pull it off and be the one that finally beats GGG.

Eubank Jr. hasn’t yet shown the kind of talent that would suggest that he’ll be able to beat Golovkin, but he speaks if it’s a dead certainty of him doing that. Eubank Jr’s confidence is downright scary because he comes off so utterly convinced that he’s going to win. It makes you whether he actually can.

“He’s got nothing to lose,” said Joshua about Eubank Jr. to IFL TV. “It’s good for him. People are always saying he’s fighting tomato cans. He’s fighting a worthy opponent. People are probably saying he’s going to get sparked out. He can’t win,” said Joshua.

When asked if he would be shocked if Eubank Jr. beats Golovkin, Joshua said, “No. That’s the beauty of the sport. He believes it. Golovkin is a good fighter, and so is Eubank Jr. That’s why people are interested in him. I don’t think they [the Eubanks] would take the fight if they didn’t think they could win it. He’s deadly serious. He knows something that the public doesn’t,” said Joshua.

I think Joshuia is just dead wrong bout Eubank Jr. being able to beat Golovkin. Heck, I don’t think Eubank Jr. can even beat David Lemieux or Billy Joe Saunders, let alone someone like Golovkin. I give Eunbank Jr. no chance at all of beating Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Daniel Jacobs. But when you bring Golovkin into the picture, it’s just a fight really shouldn’t happen between him and Eubank Jr. because it’s such a mismatch in my view. I see Eubank Jr. as Willie Monroe 2.0. I see Mornoe and Eubank Jr. at the same exact level. Golovkin destroyed Monroe Jr. in six rounds last year after he admitted carrying him to the sixth.

However, speaking from my own frame of reference, I’ve met many people during my life that have had the same confidence that I see in Eubank Jr., and I’ve seen things go very, very badly for them. Sometimes it’s better when a person realizes their own limitations before they steer over a cliff. This fight might be a good thing for Eubank Jr., because after likely loses badly, he’ll be able to get a more accurate picture of where he stands as a fighter. Right now, Eubank Jr. comes across like he’s invincible as a fighter, but after he faces Golovkin and loses badly, he can get a better appraisal of his own talent or lack thereof.

Eubank Jr’s father, Chris Eubank Jr, sees nothing in Golovkin’s game that his son can’t deal with when he gets inside the ring with him. Eubank Sr. sees Golovkin as “just another man,” according to skysports.com, and he thinks his son Eubank Jr. can and will beat GGG to win his IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC 160lb titles.

Eubank Jr. will be defending his British middleweight title this Saturday night against Tom Doran (17-0, 7 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, England. If Eubank Jr. wins that fight, he’ll be on course to fight Golovkin in September if his promoter Eddie Hearn can close the deal with GGG’s promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.

“I was hearing some critics saying ‘I wouldn’t be so surprised if junior does beat him’. I wouldn’t be surprised. There is no way he is supposed to lose to Golovkin, no way,” said Eubank Sr. to skysports.com. “My credibility is on the line. Am I talking nonsense? No. The same with [Billy Joe] Saunders. No way he was supposed to lose to Saunders. He gave away the first six rounds. He’s not going to do that anymore. These men are in danger – that’s my view. Golovkin is just another man.”

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Well, Eubank Sr. was already wrong about Eubank Jr. beating Billy Joe Saunders in 2014. Eubank Jr. lost that fight after spending the first six rounds posing each time he would throw a punch. Eubank Jr. was so bad in that fight. Now it looks like Eubank Sr. is going to do the same thing by predicting that Eubank Jr. will do the same thing with Triple G. I think it would be far better if Eubank Jr. were to go back and prove that he can avenge the loss to Saunders before looking to fight Golovkin.

When you fail a class in school, you’re not supposed to progress to the next level of courses by telling yourself, ‘I didn’t really fail. The teacher had it wrong. I aced the test.’ Eubank Jr. says he still thinks he beat Saunders. The reality is that Saunders didn’t win, and he’s done nothing to try and avenge the defeat. Now he wants to progress to the highest level by taking on Golovkin. It doesn’t make sense. Eubank Jr. is skipping to the next level by taking his way there rather than proving himself on merit. I don’t respect that approach.