Having moved back down to middleweight and earned No.1 contender status with the WBA, Chris Eubank Jr. says he would return to 168lbs for a clash against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
This week, former WBA super-middleweight title challenger Eubank signed on for Sky Sports Boxing’s brave new world in the post-Matchroom era after Eddie Hearn took the majority of his stable – outside of PPV heavyweight giant Anthony Joshua – over to the streaming app DAZN.
The Brighton man, co-promoted by Wasserman Boxing and BOXXER, is now targeting major fights on the established Sky Sports platform. That journey begins when he faces German fringe contender Sven Elbir at The SSE Arena, Wembley, on October 2, live on Sky Sports.
Earlier in the week, Eubank claimed that the camp of IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin are interested in facing him next year, but he also remains drawn to a clash with unified 168lbs king Canelo in a potential stadium fight in the UK. That would seem fanciful at this stage, but that hasn’t stopped Eubank dreaming.
“He’s the only one I would move up a weight again to fight and yeah, he is running out of guys to fight,” Eubank told Sky Sports.
“Nobody wants to fight him and the guys that do want to fight him, don’t actually want to fight him [on fight night]. They want to get in the ring and survive and not get knocked out, and get their pay day.
“I don’t care about any of that. I want to beat him. I want to fight fire with fire. The fans know that.
“That fight is definitely a fight that can happen and I think, next year, we’ll be pushing hard for that.”
WBC, WBA Super and WBO super-middleweight champion Canelo, who will attempt to unify the 168lbs belts against IBF king Caleb Plant on November 6, has previously bested seven British fighters though has understandably never fought in the UK, given his mass appeal in America and Mexico.
“I mean who else is there? Beats [Billy Joe] Saunders, beats Callum Smith, there’s nobody else. It would fill the biggest stadium,” insisted Eubank.
“It’s not even a UK thing, it’s a world thing. Who else in the world does everyone want to see fight Canelo? You’ve got Caleb Plant but there’s all this politics.
“Nobody at middleweight is trying to fight him. Golovkin has fought him twice already. People want some new, fresh blood to get in there and test him – and that’s me.”