By Charles Brun: Chris Eubank Jr. believes Canelo Alvarez might be tempted to come to the UK to fight him after he faces Jermell Charlo on September 30.
Eubank Jr. (33-3, 24 KOs) kept his career alive as a domestic-level attraction with a tenth round technical knockout over injured 35-year-old former WBO junior middleweight champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith earlier this month on September 2nd in their rematch in Manchester.
In Eubank Jr.’s mind, that victory puts him in the “power position” to get the biggest fights, including a match against the superstar Canelo.
Eubank Jr. hasn’t earned Canelo fight
Given that the 34-year-old Eubank Jr. doesn’t fight at 168 and isn’t ranked in that weight class, it would be a situation where he would need to move up to super middleweight and jump the line in front of the more talented & deserving David Benavidez, David Morrell Jr., and Demetrius Andrade to get a title shot against the four-belt champion Alvarez.
Ideally, what Eubank Jr. should do is go up to 168 and fight Morrell or Benavidez to earn the privilege of fighting Canelo rather than begging for the fight, coming at him from a business-level angle rather than sporting.
If Canelo were to fight Eubank Jr. rather than the top contenders at 168, who have been waiting for their shot, he would be doing it for business to make himself money at the expense of the sport and the U.S fans, who have NO interest in watching him beat up on a domestic-level British fighter with limited talent.
Eubnk Jr. should have to beat these fighters to earn a fight with Canelo:
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell Jr.
- Demetrius Andrade
- Diego Pacheco
- Caleb Plant
Could Eubank Jr. beat any of them? That’s a big no. He would be blown out of the water by all of them, even by the young 22-year-old Diego Pacheco. He would be food for him, and it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Pacheco is world’s better than Eubank.
Would Canelo fight Eubank Jr?
“I can’t think of many bigger money fights than me vs. Canelo [Alvarez]. I know he wants to fight in the U.K., and it’s a huge market. I’m going to go out there and take it to him, and that’s what people want to see,” said Chris Eubank Jr. to Sky Sports News.
Canelo will likely NEVER fight Eubank Jr. because the backlash against him would be too severe for him to take the chance to stoop to the level of another low-level fight against another mediocre British fighter.
Alvarez already padded his record in the last five years by beating these Brits:
- Billy Joe Saunders
- John Ryder
- Callum Smith
- Rocky Fielding
Eubank Jr. lost to Saunders, and he would definitely lose to Callum Smith if that fight happened. Callum would make easy work of Eubank Jr. and now would argue against that happening.
“There are so many big names, so many big fights. You have to be smart in terms of business and in terms of what the public wants to see also, and in terms of continuing to keep moving up to get these titles. They are hard to pin down. I do want to fight for a world title 100%.
“Last week, it was like, ‘Eubank is on his way out. He’s finished, he’s about to get banged up by [Liam]Smith again, and then we’re never going to hear from him.’ Now, I’m the #1 guy. It’s insane how fickle this sport is.
“When I just lost, that was what I was as good as. A guy that talks a bunch but can’t back it up. Now, I’ve backed it up,” said Eubank Jr., making a big deal about his win over a shot, weight-drained, injured 35-year-old domestic-level fighter, Liam Smith.
