By Scott Gilfoid: Former world champion Chris Eubank says he wants Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn to match his son Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) to match him against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) for September of this year or possibly sooner.
I’m not sure how Hearn can make a fight between Eubank Jr. and Golovkin with Eubank Jr. committed to defending his British middleweight strap against domestic level opposition like his opponent for next month Tom Doran (17-0, 7 KOs) on June 25 at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
It looks to me like Eubank Jr. is focused on lower level achievements than fighting for world honors despite what his father says about him being ready for Golovkin.
Eubank Sr. thinks his son is ready to beat Golovkin. Eubank Sr. thinks that he himself would have beaten Golovkin if he had fought him during his career. Considering that Eubank was beaten by the likes of Steve Collins, Joe Calzaghe and Carl Thompson, I’d have to say that he would have never beaten Golovkin. Anyway, this is neither here nor there because Golovkin can’t go back into a time machine to fight Eubank Sr.
All we know is Eubank Sr. failed again and again and again when he fought the better fighters during his career. The only guys that Eubank Sr. did beat were a lot of local fighters like Nigel Benn and Michael Watson rather than the other types.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3keJuuC_tI
“Eddie Hearn has to do the job of actually making that fight in September. He’s ready. He’s willing and he’s far more capable than the boxing public thinks,” said Eubank Sr. to skysports.com. “I pointed out to him the other day that if he fights Golovkin, he’ll get marked up and he will do but he beats him and it’s worth the risk. To me, it isn’t one because if he follows the strategic model we are going to use, I believe Junior beats him up.”
It would be good for Eubank Jr. to probably stay in the same lane he’s been fighting at in facing domestic level guys rather than taking on a talent like Golovkin. It would be a step too far and way too soon given the low level of opposition Eubank Jr. has been feeding off in record-padding fights. I’m just surprised that Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport bothered to sign Eubank Jr. given that he doesn’t seem willing to step up to a higher level.
I don’t know what Hearn can do with Eubank Jr. other than keeping him on the undercards of IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s fight cards as the third or fourth fight from the top. That kind of shows you what Eubank Jr’s importance is when he’s not even worth putting as the co-feature.
If Eubank Jr. would start stepping up to show the boxing world that he’s ready for Golovkin, then maybe you could take what his father Eubank Sr. says about him ready to fight Golovkin in September.
“If the Golovkin fight comes up before, I’d have to say ‘go for it’, because that’s how he steps out of my shadow absolutely. There’s nothing I would love more than for that to happen,” said Eubank Sr.
I’m not sure whether Hearn or Eubank Sr. will be the one that picks the opponents for Eubank Jr’s fights. Either way, I don’t see either of them being crazy enough to throw Eubank Jr. in the ring with Golovkin right now. A fight like that only makes sense when the 34-year-old Golovkin is a lot older than he is now an showing signs of being over-the-hill.
It’s hard to say right now how many years that’ll take before he can no longer punch like he does now. If Golovkin still has his punching power when he’s 40, then I see Eubank Jr. having holes punched through him if he takes that fight.
I see Eubank Jr. as so far behind Golovkin in terms of talent and punching power that it might take until Golovkin is in his 50s for Eubank Jr. to have a chance against him. Since I don’t see Eubank Jr. as still being a relevant fighter in 15 years from now, there’s virtually no chance of him ever beating Golovkin.