Chris Eubank Jr. has revealed that his promoter has begun talks with Canelo Alvarez for a fight in 2025. The highly ranked middleweight contender Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) believes a fight between him and the Mexican super Canelo would sell out Wembley Stadium in London.
Eubank Jr. isn’t well-known to U.S. fans, and it would have to require a lot of over-the-top type theatrics during the build-up to get fans interested in purchasing it on PPV, especially if it’s priced at $89.99, like Canelo’s last fight against the unproven Edgar Berlanga on September 14th. That’s a lot of money for Americans to pay for a mismatch against a British celebrity fighter.
Eubank Jr: Conversations Have Begun
It would require a lot of selling to interest the U.S. fans because Eubank Jr. would be viewed as another John Ryder and Billy Joe Saunders type mismatch. Canelo would make money fighting an old sub-par fighter who is more of a celebrity-level boxer than a true contender.
Eubank Jr. has never won a world title during his 13-year career. He’s mostly fought at the British and European level, facing domestic fighters and journeymen. Last year, Eubank Jr. was knocked out in the fourth round by fringe contender Liam Smith on January 21st, 2023.
The 35-year-old Eubank Jr. says a fight between him and Canelo would have a huge build-up that would get fans excited about seeing them battle. He feels that the unified three-belt super middleweight champion Canelo has few options now that David Benavidez has moved up to 175.
Eubank Jr. states the only possibilities for Canelo are light heavyweights Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, but they fight at 175. He feels he’s a better option for Canelo.
“We’ve already started small conversations around the Canelo fight. If he’s ever going to fight in the UK, that’s the fight, and that would sell out at Wembley Stadium,” said Eubank Jr. to Sky Sports Boxing about a fight between him and Canelo Alvarez. “I could become the face of boxing.
Obviously, fans would ridicule Canelo if he chose to fight Eubank Jr. because he’s not viewed as a top-tier fighter in the eyes of knowledgeable fans. Eubank Jr. is viewed as a Conor Benn type of fighter who is popular only because of his famous father and makes good money fighting non-world level competition in the UK.
“We’ve already started small conversations around the Canelo fight,” said promoter Ben Shalom. “I believe that’s a fight that interests Canelo.”
It won’t go over well if Canelo chooses to fight Eubank Jr.. Still, if this is a retirement tour type of fight, it’s understandable why he would want to scoop from the bottom of the barrel to take this lackluster opponent for an easy payday at the expense of fans.
Canelo can price the fight as high as the market will bear at $89.99 and count on his loyal fans to purchase it on Cinco de Mayo holiday in May 2025.
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