By Matt Lieberman: Chris Eubank Jr’s new promoter Kalle Sauerland says he wants to match him against Gennady Golovkin next in the first fight with his promotional company, and then look set-up fights against Kell Brook, Ryota Murata, Liam Williams, and Billy Joe Saunders.
Kalle states that Eubank Jr (29-2, 22 KOs) could take a tune-up first before they look to match him against GGG, Murata, Williams, or Brook. The former IBO super middleweight champion Eubank Jr signed a long-term deal with Sauerland, according to Kalle.
The German promoter Sauerland hopes to keep Eubank Jr busy and help him make up for the lost time. He didn’t fight in 2020 due to the pandemic, and he wants to get him out as soon as possible this year.
Five years ago, Eubank Jr was supposed to be challenging WBA middleweight champion Golovkin in September 2016, but the fight was given to Brook instead by his promoter at Eddie Hearn.
Eubank Jr was 26 at the time, and he probably wouldn’t have done well against GGG. Now that Eubank Jr is 31 and Golovkin about to turn 39, he’s ready to defeat the Kazakh and take his IBF middleweight title from him.
Golovkin on shortlist for Eubank Jr
“The fight that is at the top of our list is Golovkin, which is the fight to make at 160 if you want to rule the division,” said Kalle Sauerland to iFL TV about the fight he wants to make next for Eubank Jr.
“You talk about age or whatever. He certainly didn’t look old in December, and let’s face it, he’s the man to beat at middleweight for the last ten years.
“So that’s the scalp that everyone wants. GGG is a legend, and I think that’s a fight that can take place in the UK or the U.S. It’s a massive, massive fight, but there are others. A great one to make in the UK is Liam Williams.
“I know he has a world title challenge now [against WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade], but that’s down the road.
“We don’t know what the WBA situation is with [Ryota] Murata. Will there be a unification called? Chris is currently the interim [WBA champion]. Murata is another great fight, a cracking fight either in Japan or the UK,” said Kalle in talking about options for Eubank Jr. G
Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) is coming off an impressive victory over his IBF mandatory Kamil Szeremeta, and he’s currently in negotiations to defend against former WBO 154-pound champion Jaime Munguia.
Golovkin’s schedule might be open after the Munguia fight unless he gets picked by Canelo Alvarez for their long-awaited trilogy.
Canelo will probably pass on the GGG third fight in 2021 as he wants to become the undisputed champion at 168. That’s going to eat up the entire year for Canelo.
Eubank Jr would be a great fight for Golovkin, provided that he makes it past the unbeaten Munguia in May. Golovkin must bring DAZN some quality fights, as he’s failed to deliver with his mismatches against Szeremeta and Steve Rolls.
Golovkin’s match against Sergiy Derevyanchenko delivered in terms of excitement, but the fight wasn’t supposed to be. It didn’t bring in many subscribers because the U.S boxing fans weren’t familiar with Derevyanchenko.
Kell Brook a possibility for Eubank Jr
“But there are some little ones to make. Kell Brook,” Kalle said about another possible opponent for Eubank Jr., “I’ll throw that at you.
“What do you think about that? That’s a blockbuster. At middleweight. It’s not as if Kell is easily making weight [at 147].
“Everyone knows that, and Kell has been in with Golovkin before and looked good. It’s a cracking fight [Eubank Jr vs. Brook] to make.
“Liam Smith is another interesting fight to make as well [for Eubank Jr]. There are some very good fights to make in the UK,” said Sauerland.
Brook would likely be strong in going up to 160, as he gave Golovkin a run for his money in their fight in 2016.
Kell hadn’t filled out completely at the time of that fight, and he wasn’t ready to be fighting at 160. Brook is bigger now, and he’ll be at full strength in taking on Eubank Jr at middleweight.
Former IBF welterweight champion Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) was stopped in the fourth-round by WBO 147lb champion Terence Crawford on November 14th.
Brook is a lot better than what he showed in that fight, considering he hadn’t fought at 147 in three years since his loss to Errol Spence Jr in 2017.
Billy Joe Saunders vs. Eubank Jr II = Future mega-fight
“I haven’t touched on Billy [Joe Saunders] because at the moment, it looks like Billy is going to fight Canelo, and he deserves that Canelo fight,” said Sauerland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FptdFBygWUE&t=43s
“Of course it is,” said Sauerland when asked if a fight between Eubank Jr and Saunders is still a huge one. “We could all say it shouldn’t happen, but dollars make sense and that fight makes dollars.
“That’s a fact. When we’re back to full stadiums, there’s not a stadium in this country that would not take Billy Joe vs. Eubank. That is a huge fight. Forget that the first fight was a classic sporting-wise.
“It was a tale of two stories type of fight. It was an amazing battle between the two, but also the inevitable build-up, which is a part of professional boxing. The hype around that fight [Saunders vs. Eubank Jr] would be phenomenal.
“We’ve got to get Junior active and that’s what we’ll focus on,” said Kalle about Eubank. “Look at all the names I mentioned. There’s not a single one of those fights that are not big.
“They’re all big fights. We might take a tune-up first, that’s one option. I think Junior and senior as well, they want the big fights, that’s for sure,” said Kalle.
In 2014, Eubank Jr lost a 12 round split decision to Billy Joe Saunders in a highly competitive fight. Eubank Jr would have won that fight if he had the maturity and the ring IQ he has now.
A rematch between Eubank Jr and Saunders will bring in many fans once the pandemic is over. It doesn’t matter if Saunders comes into the rematch having lost to Canelo. The fans will still want to see him and Eubank battle it out.
Eubank Jr to fight three times in 2021
“Depending on if he goes the tune-up route or not, two big fights for sure,” said Kalle when asked how many fights he wants Eubank Jr to take in 2021. “If you throw in a tune-up, three times.
“He’s the sort of fighter that when you promote him, you’ve got to pull the reigns in a bit. They love activity, but they haven’t had activity.
“They [Eubank Jr] were hit hard by the pandemic and lost time last year [by not fighting]. Now it’s time to ramp up the engines and make up for that.
“It’s a long-term deal,” said Sauerland when asked how many years he signed Eubank Jr for. “He’s got an edge to him that you can’t buy. You can’t fake, he is the way he is.
“That you don’t want to touch. That’s authentic, and you don’t want to mess with that. That’s his own persona, and senior had his own persona as well.
“They’re not that similar, but they are similar in that they had their two personas,” said Sauerland.
A tune-up for Eubank Jr makes a lot of sense, as he hasn’t fought since his second-round knockout win over Matt Korobov in December 2019