By Scott Gilfoid: Chris Eubank Jr. (32-2, 23 KOs) feels he’s ready to challenge for a world title against middleweight champions Gennady Golovkin or Ryota Murata after his 12 round unanimous decision win over Liam Williams last Saturday night.
Eubank Jr. humiliated the Wales native, putting him down four times in the fight in front of his fans.
We suspected the fight would be a blowout heading into the contest, considering Liam was coming off a poor showing in his loss to WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade in April of last year.
Why did Eubank Jr choose to fight Liam Williams?
Given how terrible Liam looked in his loss to Andrade, it’s unknown why Eubank Jr. wanted to fight him? However, taking the lower domestic-level options rather than rising up to fight high-tier opposition has been a hallmark of Eubank Jr’s disappointing career. Rather than competing against the best, Eubank Jr. has wasted his potential fighting at the domestic level and missed out on great fights that he could have had.
IBF champion Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) and WBA champion Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) still must meet for their unification fight in early 2022 before they can turn their attention to fighters like Eubank Jr.
In Golovkin’s case, he’s arguably got better options for money fights against Canelo Alvarez, Jaime Munguia, or Jermall Charlo, provided he beats the 35-year-old Murata.
Eubank Jr., 32, dominated the slow-moving, slow-punching Williams all night long at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales, knocking him down four times in the process of winning a wide decision by the scores 116-108, 116-109, and 117-109.
Williams fought like a slow tortoise last Saturday night, and he looked nowhere near world level.
Gilfoid is still trying to figure out why Eubank Jr. chose Liam Williams as his opponent rather than one of the talented middleweights in the division. Still, it’s totally in keeping with the direction he’s taken with his career. Fighting the lower tier has been the norm for Eubank Jr by and large.
Eubank Jr. calls out Golovkin & Murata
“I’ve said it. I want to fight for a world title. Put GGG or put Ryota Murata in front of me. Get me a world title shot,” said Eubank Jr. to iFL TV after his win over Williams last Saturday night.
“It’s easier said than done, especially with this COVID. It’s hard. Put a big name in front of me. I want the big names that the fans are going to get excited about,” said Eubank Jr.
It would be s surprise if Eubank Jr. could get Golovkin or Murata to fight him next because they’ve got other fish to fry. Murata hasn’t fought in two years, and he may disappear entirely after he faces Golovkin, particularly if he loses the fight.
It would be more realistic for Eubank Jr. to center his attention on trying to set up fights against middleweights that are possible for him rather than pining away for match-ups that have no real chance of happening.
Fights that CAN happen for Eubank Jr in 2022:
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Juan Macias Montiel
- Zhanibek Alimkhanuly
- Erislandy Lara
- Jaime Munguia
- Erickson Lubin
- Tim Tszyu
Eubank Jr. reacts to Conor Benn call out
“Listen, if the fans want to see it and if he can move up, what a fight that would be,” said Eubank Jr. on him and Conor Benn battling it out. “That would be incredible. The two sons, Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn, who wouldn’t want to see that? I’d want to see that if I were a fan,” said Eubank Jnr.
It’s a bit early for Benn to be talking about moving up to middleweight to face Eubank Jr, considering that he’s never fought any of the promising welterweights in his division to show that he deserves a big fight like that.
Like Eubank Jr, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Benn has been capitalizing on his famous father Nigel Benn’s name to make money fighting older fighters in gimme-level fights at welterweight.
We don’t know how Benn will do when he’s put in against a talented fighter at 147, but it’s pretty clear that his promoter Eddie Hearn isn’t in a hurry to throw him in deep.
“But the likelihood of that happening? I really doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon,” said Eubank Jr. in throwing cold water on the idea of fighting the 25-year-old welterweight Benn.
“I see that happening years to come when I’ve done everything I wanted to do welterweight, and I want to have a bit of fun further down the line, but who knows. We’ll see.
“I fancy my chances at a catch-weight,” said Conor Benn on Twitter in calling out Eubank Jr. after his win over Liam Williams.
