By Allan Fox: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants to match his fighter Chris Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18 KOs) against the winner of the September 10 fight between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) and Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs). Hearn attempted to put together a fight between Eubank Jr. and Golovkin recently, but he couldn’t hammer out the deal.
Eubank Jr. reportedly froze when it came time for him to agree to the contract. Hearn needed Eubank Jr. to quickly agree because he had a short timeline before Golovkin and his team would move on and look for another opponent.
When asked when the tickets will go on sale for the Golovkin vs. Brook fight, Hearn said to IFL TV, “Next week. They’ll be in line for the Joshua fight. He [Eubank Jr.] was asked to fight the most dangerous fighter on the planet. It hasn’t worked out for him. That fight can happen again 100 percent. He can fight Kell Brook if he wins. He can fight Gennady Golovkin if he wins. There’s a huge future for Chris Eubank, but this time it wasn’t to be,” said Hearn.
Eubank Jr. and his father Chris Eubank Sr. would need to come to an agreement at a fairly rapid pace if they want to fight the winner of the Golovkin-Brook fight, because it’s likely the window to make that fight will be even smaller next time around. One gets the impression that Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler won’t let the negotiations with Eubank Jr. go on too long before they abandon their efforts next time around. It would help if Hearn can get some kind of agreement with the Eubanks ahead of time about thinks ticket prices, who the commentators will be, and which the undercard fighters will be and how much they’ll get paid.
Hearn could save a lot of time and hassle in the subsequent negotiations if he can get past that part before they even begin the negotiations win the winner of the Golovkin vs. Brook.
In speaking about Brook’s chances against Golovkin, Hearn said, “I think he’s the underdog in the fight. He’s fighting the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world at two weight classes above him. Honestly, if it was at light middle, I would make Kell Brook the favorite. I think he’s got a great chance. I think he’s got a wonderful jab. I think he’s going to hit so hard at the weight. I think he’s going to be able to hold his shots better, because he’s not going to be depleted. People don’t see what Kell Brook goes through to make 147 pounds. He’s so excited to have a full camp when he can actually fuel himself properly. You’ll see on September the 10th, this is going to be a war. Kell is a quality fighter. Gennady Golovkin has never boxed an elite level fighter, and now he is. So let’s see. No catch-weight. It’s at 160 pounds, and obviously, we’ve got a check weight on the Saturday, which I was very pleased about. It’s a huge chance for Kell Brook to go and shake up the world,” said Hearn.
Hearn obviously going to talk down his own fighter Brook’s chances of beating Golovkin, but it’s highly unlikely that he’s going to be able to do the job against Golovkin. It’s more likely that Brook will be knocked out at some point in the fight, possibly within six rounds. In that case, Hearn is going to need to work hard to get Eubank Jr. to agree to the sticking points from the last negotiations. I wouldn’t be surprised if Eubank Jr. has burned his bridges as far as getting a future fight against Golovkin. This is a champion who has been burned many times in the past by fighters not signing to fight him. He’s not likely going to put up with feet dragging from the Eubanks. What could hurt Eubank Jr’s chances even more of getting a fight against Golovkin is if he continues to fight domestic level opposition like he’s been doing instead of fighting world class fighters that can increase his popularity. Hearn needs to let Eubank Jr. know that it’s okay for him to start fighting world class fighters once again.