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Chris Eubank Jr. is no stranger to the spotlight and certainly thrives off the energy that comes with a live fight night atmosphere.
Neither are important enough, however, to stall his career any longer than necessary.
The second-generation boxer is eager to return to the ring, even if it means fighting in a closed-doors setting without fans in attendance. The scenario has become a hot topic in boxing given the current global health crisis, with efforts being made to begin reintroducing professional sports to the everyday life of the viewing public otherwise quarantined in their personal space.
“I was watching the UFC and they put on a fight card. That’s great to see that they’re doing that. There’s no reason why boxing shows can’t be made without crowds,” Eubank Jr. (29-2, 22KOs) insisted during the most recent edition of The PBC Podcast with co-hosts Kenneth Bouhairie and Michael Rosenthal. “At the same time, if you want to fight [Canelo] Alvarez or [Gennadiy] Golovkin, I think you kind of need the crowd. It’s such a huge event, do you really want that in an empty building somewhere? It takes away from it.”
The 30-year old from Brighton, England—whose father Chris Eubank Jr. was a celebrated former two-division titlist in the 1990s—made his United States debut in his most recent ring appearance, a two-round injury stoppage of Matvey Korobov last December in Brooklyn, New York. The bout came in chief support to unbeaten middleweight Jermall Charlo (30-0, 22KOs), who scored a one-sided 7th round stoppage of Dennis Hogan in the evening’s main event.
The Showtime-televised card was designed to pair Charlo and Eubank Jr. together for their next fight, only for the world to all but shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Eubank Jr. is patiently awaiting marching orders, currently training at the private facility of former four-division champion Roy Jones Jr. in his his Pensacola, Florida hometown. Jones Jr. will take over the training reins for whenever the Brit is able to return to the ring.
“I haven’t heard anything official. I was told I was supposed to fight June or July before all of this happened,” notes Eubank Jr., who has been at Jones’ camp since mid-March. “I can only hope that is still the schedule but the sports world is on hold right now. I have no idea.
“I’ll fight anybody, anywhere. It’s more for the fans. Those type of fights, the fans deserve to be there. So if I were to do that, I would definitely want it to be a tune-up fight or an eliminator, something where the boxing fans feel like they really missed out.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox