Middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr 33-3 (24) says he is the man to hand undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 59-2-2 (39) his third professional defeat.
The 34-year-old Brit is fresh off a revenge win over former WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith 33-4-1 (20) earlier this month who he stopped in the 10th round. It followed his fourth-round knockout loss to Smith in January.
Mexican superstar Alvarez, 33, will defend his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF 168-pound belts against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo 35-1-1 (19) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 30.
“Canelo goes where the money is and I can’t think of any bigger money fights than me versus Canelo. I know he wants to fight in the UK. It’s a huge market,” Eubank told Sky Sports.
“There’s not many guys there that people would like to see fight more than me and Canelo Alvarez.”
Eubank is well aware that Alvarez is the ‘A-side’ in any fight and that nay boxer he chooses to face is entirely his decision.
“It’s hard to target him. You can’t target Canelo Alvarez, whenever he wants to come and fight, he’ll fight. He’ll look at the options and do what he wants,” Eubank said.
“He does make the rules. He does what he wants. He moves up in weight. He comes down in weight. He holds belts in different divisions and he does all the things that other fighters could just never do.
“They call him the Brit slayer and people know I’m not going to go down without a fight I’m not going to get in there and freeze up.
“I’m going to go out there and take it to him. That’s what people want to see and that’s the fights he needs to be in. Whether he’ll accept a fight like that is to be seen.”
Question marks hung over Eubank’s head leading in to his rematch with Smith, with more than a few fans and pundits querying whether he had what it takes to compete at the highest level. His dominant performance breathed new life into his career.
“I’m in the power position now. Everybody wants a piece now,” Eubank said.
“It’s insane how fickle the sport is. But the truest quote of all when it comes to boxing is, you’re only good as your last fight. When I’d just lost, that’s what I was as good as. A loser. A guy who’s full of [rubbish]. Who talked a bunch but couldn’t back it up. Now I’ve backed it up.
“It was like: ‘Eubank’s on his way out. He’s done, he’s finished. He’s about to get banged out by Smith again. We’re never going to hear from him again.’ And now I’m the number one guy.”
