By Matt Lieberman: WBA interim middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr says he’s targeting Ryota Murata, Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade after Sunday’s announcement of his signing with the German promotional giant Sauerland.
The former IBO super middleweight champion Eubank Jr (29-2, 22 KOs) has been training for over a year with boxing great Roy Jones Jr in the U.S, and he’s made huge improvements in his game.
With a year out of the ring, the 31-year-old Eubank Jr plans on getting back into action, and he’d like nothing better than to fight for a world title at 160. Eubank’s promoters will need to see if they negotiate a fight against one of the world champions in 2021.
“I’m ready to take over the Middleweight division. I want all the champions – Murata, Charlo, Andrade, Golovkin – put me in the ring with any of them,” said Eubank Jr.
“I only want to fight the best. This is my time. If you have a belt, I’m coming for you.”
Eubank Jr, as recently with PBC and picked up two impressive wins over Matt Korobov and James DeGale. However, those were not the fights that Eubank Jr needs to take his career to the net level. He needs GGG, Jermall Charlo, or Demetrius Andrade.
PBC should have matched Eubank Jr with Jermall Charlo or his twin brother Jermell during his time with them.
An obvious choice for Eubank’s next fight would be WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KOs), who is right above him among the belt-holders at 160.
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom has been trying to get well-known opponents for his fighter Andrade. Eubank Jr would be a great option for Andrade to fight, as long as he’s free. Andrade is still hoping to get a title shot against WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders next, but that’s a long shot right now.
It would be a good idea for Eubank Jr to be more active, as one of the criticisms boxing fans have had about him is his recent nactivity. Additionally, the level of opposition that Eubank Jr has been facing needs a major upgrade.
As a 10-year professional, Eubank Jr has only had a small handful of fights against talented fighters.
Eubank Jr’s best fights:
- Billy Joe Saunders
- George Groves
- Matt Korobov
- Dimitry Chudinov
- Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan
- Arthur Abraham
- Avni Yildirim
One big advantage in Eubank Jr signing with Sauerland is their ability to negotiate with the U.S promoters.
Eubank Jr won’t need to worry about his career being stalled due to his promoters being unable to reach across the aisle to hammer out a deal with other promoters.
We’ll have to see if Sauerland will be able to do anything with Eubank’s career, as he needs to take advantage of the time he has left.
After 10 years, Eubank Jr should have already captured a world title by now. The match-making hasn’t been there for Eubank Jr.
Unfortunately, he spent too much time fighting in a weight class that his body doesn’t support at 168. If Eubank Jr had moved down to 16