By Rick Reeno
In the last few weeks, middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. (19-1, 14KOs) - and his famous father who carries the same name, Chris 'English' Eubank - have been aggressively discussing the possibility of a fight with WBA/IBO/IBF middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs).
The father-son combination called Golovkin "slow" and "easy to hit." English went as far as to say his son would "destroy" Golovkin if they faced each other "right now." He also questioned Golovkin's pound-for-pound status.
Last weekend in New York City, Golovkin stopped David Lemieux in the eight round of their three belt unification match.
Later tonight, Eubank Jr. will face the near 40-year-old Tony Jeter (20-4-1, 14KOs). If Eubank is victorious without injury, he will move forward with a much stiffer assignment on December 12th when he takes on Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan (22-1, 15KOs) at the O2 Arena in London.
As of October 8th, Eubank Jr. still holds the WBA's number one ranking in the organization's top ten. He's not far away from gaining a shot at the WBA "regular" middleweight championship - held by Danny Jacobs, who defends against Peter Quillin in December.
Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, believes Eubank Jr. should concentrate more on his in-ring performances and facing a better level of opposition.
"I think just like [Julio Cesar] Chavez Jr. trying to be like father and will never be. Chris Jr. is trying to be like his father and will never be. He got beat by [Billy Joe] Saunders a year ago. He still has a lot of catching up to do to be on that elite level," Sanchez explained to BoxingScene.com.
Eubank Jr. recently hired Adam Booth to be his head trainer, which Sanchez views as a very positive move.
"Now that he's with Adam, maybe his improvement will be a little faster and maybe he'll be on that level to fight Golovkin in the next year or year and a half. But right now Chris needs to concentrate on what he's doing with the lower level guys that he's fighting and try not only to be successful but also be sensational," Sanchez said.
"We need guys to step up. We need guys who want to be on that level, but he has to do it with his ability inside the ring and not his mouth so much. His father is trying to push him a little faster than he should be pushed, and who knows if he'll produce. We'll find out in December against Spike - and if he does real, real well - then I think Eddie [Hearn] needs to match him a little tougher next time. I think if he has two or three fights against good level opposition, then maybe so [he can fight Golovkin]."
