By Scott Gilfoid: Former world champion Nigel Benn doesn’t think it’s a good idea at all for the 26-year-old #1 WBA Chris Eubank Jr. (20-1, 15 KOs) to challenge IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) right now because he feels that he’s not ready for an advanced fighter like him.
Benn thinks that Eubank Jr still needs to learn his trade before he takes on an experienced fighter like Golovkin. Benn notes that Eubank Jr. was beaten by Billy Joe Saunders just last year in November 2014. Benn figures that if Eubank Jr. couldn’t even beat a guy like Saunders, who he doesn’t feel is in the same class as Golovkin, then he doesn’t see him as being able to compete against a talented fighter like Golovkin.
“I honestly believe he’ll become world champion,” Nigel Benn said about Eubank Jr. via IFL TV. “He’s talking about fighting Triple G. Just stay away from that for the moment. You’re young; you’ve got a lot to learn. I think he’ll be a good fighter as long as he doesn’t follow in his dad’s footsteps. He hasn’t really learned his trade. Who has he really fought? You can’t look at Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders in the same way. No disrespect to Billy Joe Saunders. But if you can’t beat Billy Joe, you think you’ve got a chance with Triple G? Let’s look at it. He just beat this guy [Tony Jeter]. I don’t know who he is. I didn’t even read it in the papers. That’s how sad it is. I didn’t see nothing. What does that say? I looked and I didn’t see it. You’ve just got a lot to learn. Now he’s got a new trainer in Adam Booth. I think it’s going to work out well for him,” Benn said.
I totally agree with Benn. If Eubank Jr. fights Golovkin right now, he’s going to be obliterated in the first round or two. The first time that Eubank Jr. tries to pose like his dad “English,” Golovkin will nail him with a big left hook and knock him out cold.
Eubank Jr. still has a nasty habit of freezing after throwing a punch, as if he’s camera conscious and wants to be in a pose when the photographers snap a shot of him. It’s very strange to look at it, and makes me wonder if Eubank Jr. is cut out for the sport. He seems to like to pose for some reason. That tells me that he’s in the wrong line of business.
Instead of being a boxer, Eubank Jr. might be better as someone who poses for art students to sculpt or paint pictures of him while he stands on a table. That kind of posing thing wouldn’t work against Golovkin or any good middleweight. If Eubank Jr. tries that posing thing against Golovkin, he’ll get his lights punched out.
Benn didn’t say how long he wants Eubank Jr. to wait before he thinks it’s wise for him to fight him, but I don’t think Golovkin will be in the game long enough for a limited fighter like Eubank Jr. to beat him. I think Golovkin would need to be in his mid-50s for a fighter like Eubank Jr. to beat him, and of course he’s not going to be still fighting at that age.
Eubank Jr. has a fight coming up on December 12th against #11 WBA Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (22-1, 15 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK. That fight isn’t going to get Eubank Jr. ready for a fighter as good as Golovkin will need to step it up to another level to fight the likes of Tureano Johnson in order to improve, and I don’t see Eubank Jr’s promoter Eddie Hearn letting him fight a guy that good.
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