Canelo Alvarez vs. Chris Eubank Jr. likely for 2025

LOS ANGELES – As Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was searching for an opponent earlier this summer for his most recent fight (a matchup ultimately awarded to Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas), the 168-pound king contemplated a clash against Chris Eubank Jr. 

Eubank, who hasn’t fought as a super middleweight since 2019, was a surprise addition to Alvarez’s biannual sweepstakes. Still, a deal didn’t cross the finish line because Eubank demanded a bigger purse for taking a fight of that magnitude on short notice while coming off a one-year layoff. 

Eubank (33-3, 24 KOs) has since signed on to fight Kamil Szeremeta on October 12 in a middleweight fight in Saudi Arabia. 

Eubank’s promoter Ben Shalom, the head of Boxxer, is confident a deal with Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) will cross the finish line next year. 

“I genuinely believe that fight will happen next year, either in May or September,” Shalom told BoxingScene in an interview while promoting his cruiserweight titleholder Chris Billam-Smith’s Nov. 16 fight against Gilberto Ramirez. 

“Whether in Las Vegas or the UK, Chris is ready for the Canelo fight and hopefully it will happen next year. I really believe that. He was out of the ring for a year and was given a six-to-seven-weeks notice. He’s a big star already and earns big money anyway. He’s not the type that you can tempt into the ring for a payday. He’s made a fortune in the sport. He wants to go into that fight to win. So he wants to go into that fight prepared. After the Kamil Szeremeta fight on October 12, it’s big fights only, and Canelo is on top of the list. 

“I believe that is the one fight [that brings Alvarez to the UK]. If Canelo Alvarez wants to cement his legacy, because, believe me, British boxing fans absolutely adore him, he’s beaten all of our guys, the fight against Eubank is the one that sells out Wembley Stadium. Let’s see if it makes sense.

“I think so [that Eubank is next in line]. Eubank brings his own audience, and that’s very rare for Canelo’s opponents. Canelo is the A-side, but Eubank is a PPV star in his own right. One of the few, and probably the only one in British boxing outside of the heavyweights. That’s a big sell. He has the history, and everyone knows his dad Chris Eubank Sr. You see how he talks up a fight. A press conference between them would be absolutely gold. I could see how it makes sense for both guys. It was very close to happening in September, and hopefully it can happen in May.”

If the framework of the previous deal was nearly set, and some of Eubank’s bargaining points were met, Alvarez could be inclined to fight Eubank, especially since he’s running out of credible opponents to face at 168 pounds. He has also long wanted to fight in locales around the world such as the United Kingdom and Japan. 

The four-division champion Alvarez has beaten many Brits over the last 13 years, including John Ryder, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Matthew Hatton and Ryan Rhodes. 

The second-generation star Eubank, from Brighton, hasn’t fought since stopping Liam Smith in September 2023 in a rematch to avenge his knockout to Smith eight months prior. 

Eubank, 35, made headlines last week by bashing “scumbag” promoters while ramping up his fight against the underdog Szeremeta, which will take place on the undercard of the undisputed light heavyweight title bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. 

“He’s been in the game a long time. He knows how to make headlines. He knows how to drop bombs,” said Shalom. “Was it helpful when all of the promoters are trying to work together? Probably not. But no one is going to tell Chris Eubank Jr. what to do, or what to say. He has the old-school British mentality. He’s box office.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.