Chris Eubank Jr aims to make up for one of his biggest regrets by landing a showdown with Gennady Golovkin next year.
Eubank was gutted when a clash with middleweight king Golovkin in the UK fell through in 2016 with promoter Eddie Hearn blaming his dad. He faces Liam Smith on January 21 at Manchester’s AO Arena and hopes victory will finally lead to a fight against the WBA Super and IBF champ.
Eubank is well placed in the middleweight world rankings and he is No 5 with the WBA and No 2 with the WBC and WBO. “We want the big names and we want the world titles,” he told Mirror Sport . “GGG, that’s the one I’m hoping to get in the ring with next after Liam Smith.
“I don’t like to talk about regrets, I say everything happens for a reason, but that’s one of my regrets that that fight didn’t get made at the time through my no fault of my own. I was ready to go, but it just didn’t happen. I’ll fight GGG anywhere. He’s got the belts, so I don’t mind travelling. Business wise, money wise it would make more sense to have it here in the UK.”
Eubank, 33, has not fought since beating Liam Williams back in February because of the postponement of his catchweight clash with Conor Benn in October. He is determined to be more active in 2023 and fulfil his dream of winning one of the four main middleweight crowns.
“One hundred per cent, that’s what I want and we’ve moving in that direction,” he said. “Next year hopefully, I’m going to fight three times. I’m pushing hard for that. We want to hunt down these belts in 2023. I’m 33 years old, I’m not getting any younger.”
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Eubank is confident of beating Smith and insists he is superior to the former WBO super-welterweight champ. "You don’t have to be a genius to know the strategy to beat a Liam Smith,” he said. “He’s a very A, B, C fighter. Fundamentally he’s very sound, but he doesn’t do anything great in my opinion.
“He’s good in a lot of areas, but that’s about it and that won’t be enough to beat a fighter like me. There’s a skill gap absolutely. In my opinion, I beat him in all departments. He likes to say I don’t have a jab and can’t box, that I’m not technically good-enough to compete at the highest level.
“That’s all hogwash, it’s all bull. It’s what guys say to try and boost themselves. He has to say something and he’s just copying what the Eubank Junior haters say online.”
Chris Eubank Junior v Liam Smith on January 21 at Manchester’s AO Arena is live and exclusive on Sky Sports Box Office. Tickets on sale now.
