Chris Eubank Jr’s promoter, Ben Shalom, says that whether he takes the fight against Canelo Alvarez next comes down to whether the match makes “financial sense” to Chris.
Shalom states that the 34-year-old Eubank Jr. (33-3, 24 KOs) “has a lot of options” available to him besides Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs). He doesn’t say what those options are, but it’s believed that he’s referring to Conor Benn.
Unfortunately, Eubank Jr-Benn would need to be staged outside of the UK because Conor lacks a boxing license to fight in that country. Whether it can happen in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere is unknown.
The other unmentioned option that Eubank Jr. has is a fight against 38-year-old Kell Brook. That’s a godawful fight, but it would do good numbers in the UK, and it’s one of Eubank Jr.’s options. It fits in with the type of fighters Eubank Jr. has fought in the last five years. In other words, domestic-level fodder.
The Financial Question
- Eubank Jr’s Options: Kell Brook and Conor Benn are believed to be the 34-year-old Eubank Jr’s chief options if he doesn’t negotiate himself out of the fight or lag, as he did when a match against Gennadiy Golovkin was offered to him back in 2016.
- Canelo’s Considerations: The Mexican superstar is deciding between Edgar Berlanga and Eubank Jr. for his next fight in September.
- Eubank Jr’s Expectations: The purse that Eubank Jr. wants to get for a fight against Canelo could be a problem that sinks the fight, leaving the British fighter empty-handed and stuck with Brook or Benn.
Eubank Jr. and Edgar Berlanga are the fighters that Canelo is reportedly considering for his next title defense of his undisputed super middleweight championship in late September or early November.
“It all comes down to whether it makes financial sense for him. I’d say 50/50 [if the Canelo-Eubank clash will take place],” said promoter Ben Shalom to Boxingscene on whether Chris Eubank Jr. will fight Canelo Alvarez next in September.
Eubank Jr. isn’t a big name in the U.S., and he’d only be useful for Canelo to attract British fans. It would only make sense for Canelo to fight Eubank Jr. if they fought in the UK in one of the big stadiums, but it’s unclear whether the British fans would be excited about this match-up.
Eubank Jr. has been an underachiever during his career and has operated mostly at the domestic level rather than following in his famous father’s footsteps by taking on the best.
Last year, Eubank Jr. was knocked out in the fourth round by the faded 34-year-old former WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith on January 21, 2023. Although Eubank Jr. later avenged the loss by knocking out a weight-drained Smith in the tenth round on September 2nd last year, it was still bad that he’d been beaten by a fighter at that level.
It would be interesting to know what kind of money Eubank Jr. expects to get for the fight against Canelo. If it’s an unrealistic number, he’s not going to get the fight because Canelo can always fall back on a match against his #1 ranked WBA contender Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), who is eager to “get that bag.”
Canelo-Berlanga would be a big one if it’s staged in New York, but the taxes might not be worth it for the fight to be staged in that state.
“He [Eubank Jr] has a lot of options, and if I’m honest, it’s not down to the Canelo side; it’s more Chris, and rightfully so,” said Shalom.
With that kind talk from Shalom, Canelo may choose to go in another direction forward someone else because Eubank Jr. isn’t on his level where he can call the shots.
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