By Edward Chaykovsky
Chris Eubank Sr., the father and trainer of Chris Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18KOs), believes his son will destroy IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs).
Earlier this year, there were serious negotiations taking place to stage this fight in September at the O2 Arena in London. After weeks of discussions, the negotiations fell apart.
Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, who was handling the negotiations for the Eubank side, stands firm with his claim that Eubank Jr. - and his father - failed to meet several deadlines to finalize the deal. After the last deadline came and went, Hearn offered the fight to IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, who accepted the fight very quickly. Brook moved up by thirteen pounds and he was stopped in the fifth round of the contest.
Eubank Jr. will return to the ring on February 4th, at super middleweight, against IBO world champion Renold Quinlan.
According to Eubank Sr., the fight with Golovkin has a much higher probability of taking place in 2017 - because they are going to handle the negotiations internally and without the involvement of Hearn or any other promoter.
"Junior has it all and I'm not talking about talk, leave the talking to me. When it comes to fighting - I've seen nothing like him," Eubank Sr. told IFL TV.
"He has been advised to be brutal, to be precise, to fight at a rate that other fights can not stay with. I watched the other day Kovalev vs. Ward. In the third round [Andre] Ward threw 30 punches. That's why I say at light heavyweight these guys can't live with Junior. You can't live with someone who is throwing three times as many on average and he can do it for twelve rounds. The math says that he can't be beaten as long as he follows strategy."
"With a fighter like Golovkin, we know who he is - and I believe Junior wrecks him. And now we have a surer chance of making this fight happen instead of leaving it to the other guys, who let us down."
