Speculation around a potential fight between Ben Whittaker and Chris Eubank Jr has grown since Boxxer announced they had signed Eubank earlier in August.
The pair are now under the same promotional roof and an in-house fight between the young growing star and one of British boxing’s most recognizable names is starting to gain traction.
Whittaker and Eubank will both be competing on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dimitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia on October 21. This will be the first time the pair have shared a stage since a rumored bout between the pair has been discussed.
Whittaker, appearing on Sky Sports News, was asked about the possibility of fighting Eubank for the first time and didn’t shy away from the clash.
“Of course, never say never,” Whittaker said. “He classed it as a sexy fight – I’d say more like Beauty and the Beast. But yeah of course, you can never say never, it’s a good fantasy fight. He’s got a great name and who knows? I’d be up for it.”
The biggest question around the fight is what weight the contest would be held at, as the fighters sit two weight classes apart.
Eubank has been competing at middleweight but some of his best performances have come at 168lbs. Eubank defeated James DeGale – who had vacated his IBF super middleweight title to face his rival – back in 2019.
Whittaker, who competes at light heavyweight, expressed that he would be open to fighting Eubank at a catchweight.
“It would be a one-off fight,” added Whittaker. “It would have to be a catchweight of some sort – hopefully super middle. But if he’s game, I’m game. Tell Turki [Alalshikh] to set it up. I’m alright with that.”
Eubank also recently appeared on Sky Sports News and was asked his thoughts on potentially moving up in weight to face Whittaker. The star seemed surprised that the fight was even a conversation but quickly became open to the idea.
“I genuinely have never thought about that,” Eubank insisted. “Who knows? Listen, I got up to 190lbs this year. I don’t know how. I’ve never been that weight before.
“I’m 34 years old, maybe the metabolism is slowing down, but I got on the scales and I was 190lbs. Is that light heavy? Who knows?”
Read the full article here