By Scott Gilfoid: Former fighter Glenn McCrory thinks Chris Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18 KOs) needs more experience before facing IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs).
McCrory sees it as being too soon for the 26-year-old Eubank Jr. to move up from the domestic level class where he’s been fighting at to the uppermost level of the 160lb division to face Golovkin. If Eubank Jr. does end up getting the fight against Triple G this year, McCrory sees him getting taken apart by GGG. It’s too much too soon for Eubank Jr. to take that giant move up in class.
McCrory thinks Eubank Jr. does a great show with the way he talks himself up in interviews, but he sees him as lacking in the past experience for the job against Golovkin. What McCrory has seen of Eubank Jr. doesn’t give him the indication that he could handle him.
“Eubank Jr gets caught quite a lot. I think he’s good and says the right things. It’s a good show and all that but as far as what he’s done so far, he hasn’t set me alight as if he’s in Golovkin’s class,” said McCrory to skysports.com. “I think Eubank Jr would get taken apart by Golovkin. It’s an interesting fight but do I think he could win? No. Do I think Eubank Jr could beat Murray? Probably not.”
It’s pretty much academic at this point that Golovkin would obliterate Eubank Jr. in short order. The only way it lasts for any length of time is if Golovkin decides to carry Eubank Jr. in order to give the boxing fans in the UK a show in my view. The fight would be like watching a cat play with a mouse for a while before either eating it or just letting it go. Eubank Jr. would be so, so out of his class against Golovkin that it wouldn’t be funny. McCrory thinks that right now wouldn’t be a good time for Eubank Jr. to fight Golovkin.
Honestly, I don’t think Eubank Jr. will be ready for Golovkin 10 years from now when the Kazakhstan fighter is 44-years-old. The problem for Eubank Jr. is that Golovkin will likely still crushing power when he’s in his early to mid-40s, and that would be more than enough for him to destroy him. I see Eubank Jr. as Willie Monroe Jr. 2.0.
Golovkin easily beat Monroe Jr. last year in stopping him in six rounds. GGG says he could have stopped him early in the 2nd round, but he wanted to give the fans a show so he let him hang around.
I don’t think Eubank Jr. really cares about testing himself against top level fighters in preliminary battles to get to the Golovkin. I think Eubank Jr. is ready to gamble and hope for the best. He’s going to make a bunch of money for this fight, so it’ll be a life-changing bout regardless of what happens to him. Even if Eubank Jr. gets blasted out in the 1st round, he’ll likely be set for life from the money he makes in that fight from the pay-per-view sales from Sky Box Office. I just hope Eubank Jr. doesn’t go and retire like we saw with Carl Froch after he made the big bucks with his two giant fights against George Groves.
For some reason, McCrory wants to see Eubank Jr. face former four-time world title challenger Martin Murray before he takes on Golovkin. McCrory believes Murray would be a good test for Eubank Jr. and he also thinks he would beat him. I’m not sure that I agree with that. I not only think Murray would be a horrible test for Eubank Jr., but I also see it as a one-sided fight with Eubank Jr. easily winning.
As we’ve seen in many of Murray’s fights in the past, he mostly just covers up and doesn’t throw many punches when he steps it up a level. Murray reminds me of a sparring partner when I see him fighting. He covers up with high guard for 12 rounds and just stands there while his opponents fire away at him with shots. Every once in a while, Murray throws a couple of punches and then goes back into his shell for the next 15 to 20s. It’s very boring, and it’s not surprising that he’s lost so many times. Instead of suggesting that Eubank Jr. fight Murray as a test, MCrory should be telling Eubank Jr. to fight Tureano Johnson, Peter Quillin, Curtis Stevens, Hassan N’Dam or Daniel Jacobs. Those guys would be a real test for Eubank Jr., not someone like Murray. That’s too much of a mismatch if Eubank Jr. fights him.