Chris Eubank Jr. NOT impressed with Jermall Charlo

By Boxing News - 05/16/2020 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Middleweight belt-holder Jermall Charlo is on the target list of Chris Eubank Jr. and believes he’s capable of dethroning him when he gets his chance to challenge him. Eubank Jr. (29-2, 22 KOs) has counted out the unbeaten WBC 160-pound champion Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) and spotted a weakness in his game from his victories over Matt Korobov and Dennis Hogan.

Eubank Jr’s own game wasn’t good enough in the past with him losing to Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves by 12 round decision defeats. Chris Jr. is now trained by boxing great Roy Jones Jr., and he believes he’s going to take his game to the next level.

Unfortunately, fans don’t see any substantial changes to Eubank’s game from how he performed before he made the switch to the 51-year-old Jones Jr. One thing that fans are seeing is that Roy, even at his age, has considerably faster hands and moves better than Eubank Jr. Jones looks like the more athletic and fluid fighter than the stiff-limbed Eubank.

Image: Chris Eubank Jr. NOT impressed with Jermall Charlo

Eubank Jr sees weakness in Jermall Charlo

“Nothing impresses me. He hasn’t fought anybody of note,” Eubank said to PBC Podcast on Jermall Charlo. “I saw a hell of a lot of weaknesses in his ability when he fought Korobov [in 2018]. That’s a fight that I believe I would win comfortably.”

Charlo had problems with the southpaw stance and the quick counter shots that the 2008 Olympian Matt Korobov showed him in their fight in 2018. Eubank Jr. had an easier time beating Korobov because the 37-year-old Russian fighter suffered a shoulder injury.

The Korobov that Charlo fought was slightly younger, fresher, and not dealing with a left shoulder injury. Eubank Jr. has no interest in giving Korobov a rematch to show that he can beat him when he’s 100% healthy.

There’s Nothing Wrong with Eubank Jr. not giving Korobov a rematch as long as he faces someone as good or better than him in his next fight. However, that’s not likely to happen because many of the top middleweights won’t be able to travel to fight Eubank Jr. due to the pandemic.

On Fighting Canelo or Golovkin without a crowd 

“If you were to fight an Alvarez or a Golovkin, I think you kinda need the crowd,” said Eubank Jr. “It’s such a huge event. Would you really want to do that in an empty building somewhere? It takes away from it a lot. So I don’t know.”

“Those types of fights, the fans deserve to be there,” said Eubank Jr.

With the global pandemic, fighting without fans could be the new reality for most of the boxers. Other than the stars like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, who can fight in front of crowds in foreign countries, the regular fighters don’t have that luxury. They either fight behind closed doors, or they’ll sit inactive for potentially an extended period.

If Canelo or Golovkin offer Eubank Jr. a fight without fans present, he’s not in the position to turn it down because he’s against fighting behind closed doors. Eubank Jr. already blew his chance to fight Golovkin in 2016 when he and his father Chris Eubank Sr. took too long in the negotiations.

That was four years ago, and Eubank Jr’s career has gone nowhere during that time. In another four years from now, Eubank Jr. will be 34, and likely not the fighter he is today.

So if Eubank Jr. is going to insist on fighting in front of fans against the likes of Canelo and GGG, he could be out of look permanently against those two guys.

What Eubank Jr. needs is a few more solid wins under his belt so that he can get pushed up the rankings at 160. Right now, Eubank Jr. isn’t ranked in the top 10 at middleweight, and he can’t force the champions like Canelo, Golovkin, and Charlo to fight him.

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