By Eric Baldwin: Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) was in the mood to kick sand in the face of Chris Eubank Jr. on Sunday in giving him grief for failing to close the deal to take the fight against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) for September.
Brook says he’ll show Eubank Jr. how to do the job on GGG. Brook says he doubts that Eubank Jr. ever truly wanted to fight Golovkin. In other words, he was just messing around by calling out Triple G so that he could get attention from the fans and the media. Eubank Jr. certainly did get a great deal of attention from the boxing world.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get the fight that would have made him a great deal of money. Eubank Jr’s own promoter Eddie Hearn says he would have made between $4 million to $6.5 million for the fight with GGG. That’s a lot of money.
“@ChrisEubankJr you never wanted the fight I’ll show you how to deal with @GGGBoxing,” said Brook on his Twitter.
Eubank Jr. might have wanted the fight, but he wasn’t the one calling the shots. His father Chris Eubank Sr. does the management of Eubank Jr’s career. If he decided that he didn’t like the deal that was on the table, then it makes sense that he wouldn’t have Eubank Jr. take the fight.
Since Eubank Sr. isn’t speaking about the negotiations like Hearn has been doing, we don’t know if the deal that was offered to Eubank Jr. is the same one that Brook accepted. It would be interesting to know exactly what was offered to the Eubanks for the fight with GGG. If it wasn’t a great deal, then Eubank Sr. was wise not to accept it. Eubank Jr. is a good enough fighter that he’ll have plenty of opportunities for other fights in the future with terms that are more to his and his father’s liking.
“@GGGBoxing after you’re done bullying @SpecialKBrook & you’re ready for a fight with a real middleweight, I’ll be there #PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize.” said Eubank Jr. on his Twitter.
Eubank will have the option of fighting the Golovkin-Brook winner after their September 10, and he could end up making even more money than he would have made if he’d agreed to be Golovkin’s opponent for September.
Golovkin doesn’t have great options for his December fight. He wants to fight once more before the end of the year. If he doesn’t wind up facing a rematch against Brook, then Eubank Jr. is the best fight for him. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders won’t be looking to fight Golovkin.
The biggest fight for Golovkin after the Brook match-up is Eubank Jr. for December. If Brook beats Golovkin, then Eubank Jr. would be a great fight for him too because both guys are with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport stable. It would be a very easy fight for Hearn to make if he can get both guys to be reasonable when it comes to the negotiations.