By Jeff Aranow: Addressing the rumors circulating around that IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) is in negotiations for a fight against Chris Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18 KOs), Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler says they’re not true, but they are still interested in fighting the 27-year-old fighter.
Golovkin, 34, has a tough fight on his hands against WBA World middleweight champion Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) on March 18 on HBO pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden in New York.
It would be a mistake on Golovkin’s and Loeffler’s part for the two of them to start up negotiations for a fight against Eubank Jr. before the job has been done against the 29-year-old Jacobs.
This is Golovkin’s toughest test of his career, and it’s coming at bad time with him having recently struggled in beating welterweight Kell Brook last September. There are a lot of boxing fans that are giving Jacobs a good chance of beating Golovkin based on his recent performances.
Eubank Jr. had the chance to fight Golovkin last September, but he decided not to agree to the offer in time. Many boxing fans saw this move as a major blunder for Eubank Jr., who is scheduled to fight next month against IBO super middleweight champion Renold Quinlan (11-1, 7 KOs) on February 4 on PPV at the Lee Valley VeloPark, Newham, in London, England.
It’s a fight that likely won’t bring in a lot of PPV buys due to the 27-year-old Australian Quinlan not being a major player in the 168lb division. Eubank Jr. and his father believe that a win over Quinlan will put them in position for a unification fight against the other super middleweight champions in the division. Whether a unification fight takes place or not will depend on how much value the different champions put on Eubank Jr’s IBO title when/if he wins it.
In the eyes of some boxing fans, the IBO belt isn’t seen as a major title. Eubank Jr. might get a fight against one of the champions, but they’ll likely give him the fight more for his name and popularity rather than him being the IBO title holder if he beats Quinlan.
Loeffler said this to skysports.com about there being zero negotiations with Eubank Jr:
“No new negotiations are in progress with Eubank Jr,” Loeffler said. “Although we would be open to that fight, as we were last September when Eddie Hearn made the offer.”
Eubank Jr. could stay at super middleweight if he beats Quinlan. It would be a strategic move on Eubank Jr’s part to stay at 168 rather than coming back down to try and get lucrative fights against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders and the winner of the Golovkin-Jacobs fight.
Those would appear to be bigger money fights than Eubank Jr. facing the winner of the James DeGale vs. Badou Jack fight. If Eubank Jr. fights and loses to the winner of that fight, then he might as well forget about facing Golovkin or Saunders in the near future.
If Golovkin gets past Jacobs in March, he’ll likely stay out of the ring until he fights Saul Canelo Alvarez in September if the fight can get negotiated.