Kalle Sauerland, head of Wasserman Boxing and promoter of Chris Eubank Jr, has revealed that he and Eubank are already eyeing up future opponents, despite having a tough fight against Liam Smith next month.
Eubank was originally scheduled to face Conor Benn on October 8th, in a historic, one-of-a-kind family trilogy fight.
However, following a positive drugs test, the fight was cancelled, sending Benn’s career into jeopardy and Eubank’s into standstill. Since then, boxing fans have waited for news regarding Benn and whether he will be banned or not and an update is seemingly imminent.
Meanwhile, Sauerland and Eubank have moved on from the debacle, with the 33-year-old now set to face former WBO light-welterweight world champion, Liam Smith, next month.
Despite a very tough test ahead, confidence in the camp is high, as Sauerland told talkSport that they have already had discussions about what comes after victory against Smith.
In the interview, Sauerland revealed that they have opted against giving Benn a second chance, if he is able to return next year and that they would favour a world title fight with unified champion, Gennadiy Golovkin.
“I think there is a lot of fights out there next year [for Eubank].
I actually had this discussion with Junior recently and I said ‘look, there could be a situation where it’s either [Gennadiy] Golovkin or [Conor] Benn on the table’. The answer was Golovkin.
Right now, Smith is too big of a fight to look past and I also want that mindset on Junior, because it is such an important fight and it is a live, live fight, believe me.”
Eubank has often stated that he would relish the opportunity to fight Golovkin for a world title, and at 40-years-old, with a poor performance in his last outing, now looks to be the perfect time. It would be the second time that Jr has challenged for a world title, after an unsuccessful attempt at George Groves’ WBA belt, in 2018.
First, Eubank must negate the efforts of Liam Smith, a game opponent with greater experience at the world level. A win for Eubank could arguably be the biggest of his career and set up a shot at a world title.