Eubank Jr: Canelo a Mexican Warrior? That Was Embarrassing!

By Carlos Boogs

British middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17KOs) admits he was shocked when Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) vacated his WBC championship last week.

Canelo was ordered by the World Boxing Council to make a mandatory defense against Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) in the fall.  

The WBC's purse bid, scheduled for May 24th, was rapidly approaching and Canelo was not pleased with being pressured by the sanctioning body, so he made a decision to drop the belt - and the WBC named Golovkin as the new champion by default.

Eubank was caught off-guard by the decision, because he was under the impression that Canelo was going to fight GGG in the coming months.

The British fighter is gunning for a year-end crack at Golovkin's WBC/IBO/WBA/IBF world titles.

"It did surprise me because Canelo was supposed to be this great, proud Mexican warrior. So for him to give up his world title belt, so he doesn't have to fight another man, it's embarrassing really. He shouldn't be doing stuff like that. He's a great fighter. He's got a great record, a great fighting style and it would have been a great fight. Maybe he doesn't have the confidence that I have when it comes to top opponents," Eubank told BoxingScene.com's Declan Taylor.

"Maybe he'll fight him down the line, but for right now it doesn't look good [for him in the eyes of the fans]. It's one of those things where if you don't feel like you're ready, if you don't want to take the risk, then you have to give up what you've worked for. But its a great opportunity for me. Golovkin has to fight somebody."

Many believe the big sticking point in the Canelo-Golovkin negotiations was the fighting weight. Canelo's last five fights have taken place at a catch-weight of 155. He was demanding 155 for a fight with Golovkin, who refused to accept anything lower than the middleweight limit of 160.

Eubank agrees with Golovkin's position on the matter.

"This is the middleweight division. We are at 160. We can't keep talking about this 155. What's the excuse [from Canelo to keep fighting at 155]? He walks around at super middleweight or [higher] and he's cutting all this weight [to make 155]. You are a middleweight," Eubank said.