Chris Eubank Jr may have been out of the ring for the entirety of 2020 but he returns on May 1 in Manchester against Marcus Morrison. However, for Eubank Jr, this fight is just a chance to shake off any ring rust before moving onto some big targets in 2021.
“The end game for this year is Gennady Golovkin. 100 percent,” he told IntuBoxing. “I’ve wanted that fight for years. He is the number one guy in the middleweight division. So that is the fight that I really want. And that fight can be made, who else is there who people want to see him f*cking fight? I’d give him the most entertaining, the most competitive fight out there in my opinion. So he is number one, but there are a lot of big names out there.
“You’ve got Ryota Murata who has the full WBA world title, the interim holder, so that is a big fight that I want,” Eubank said, after finishing his latest training session. “All these guys at the top of the middleweight division, I’m coming for those belts. There’s a lot of politics in boxing so some of those fights may be hard to make, but I want to be back in the ring soon after this fight here.
“So people are talking about Kell Brook maybe for the summer, to get me on the right track ready for Golovkin. That never really crossed my mind up until everyone started talking about it and now when you think about it, it is a fun fight, it is a great fight. I guess people want to see it, I’d be happy to jump in there with a few of the names I’ve been told so it is just up to them to do the matchmaking and for me to show up on the night.”
Meanwhile, a week after Eubank’s fight, rival Billy Joe Saunders will take on Canelo Alvarez in one of the biggest fights of the year to date. Having put £10k on Canelo to knock out BJS, Eubank will be keeping a close eye on this one.
“I’m keeping an eye on it because it is Canelo, not because it is Saunders. Saunders is irrelevant in the sport now, even though he does have a world title. He has fought nobody, I’m the only guy he has fought and that was six years ago. How can you not have fought anybody of calibre or note in six years? It is crazy.
“Failed drugs tests, he’s been an absolute moron outside of the ring, hasn’t represented the sport of boxing well at all, so Canelo will be doing a public service when he takes him out - get him out of the sport. Or at least take the title off him because he doesn’t deserve to be called a world champion. I put a £10,000 bet on Canelo to knock him out and once that happens, if he doesn’t retire then I’m sure that fight can be made, it is a fight that people always want to talk about.
“He [BJS] is not in my train of thought. Canelo is. Canelo is a different story. Canelo is the guy, the target. He is the most recognised name in the sport following Anthony Joshua. He has to find somebody who is going to give him a fight. These guys are going in there, they are already beat.”
When asked how he would go about trying to beat the Mexican fighter who has only lost to Floyd Mayweather in his 58-fight professional career, the 31-year-old was as bold as ever in his response.
“Fight fire with fire,” he stated. “Remember all my fights, I don’t back down from anybody. These guys are going in there in survival mode. Smith, Kovalev, Yildirim, his last few fights have been embarrassing. These guys are just surviving until they get knocked out, they are trying not to get knocked out. They aren’t going in there thinking I want to hurt this guy, I want to get him. I'm the only guy who wants to go out there and get him.
“Who is he going to fight? Who is going to give him a real fight? Who is going to go in there and put him on him? There are very few fighters that have that mentality, I’m one of them.”
You can watch the full interview on YouTube, with thanks to our friends at www.intuboxing.com
