Trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso says unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez has no interest in fighting 160-lb contender Chris Eubank Jr. fight for his next title defense. Reynoso revealed the reports of ongoing fight discussions are “completely false.”
Reynoso says that Eubank Jr. had the chance to face Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) for his last fight on Sept. 14, but he complicated the negotiations. There will therefore be no further discussions.
Eubank Jr’s manager, Ben Shalom, told the media this week that talks are underway for a fight with Canelo. It is unclear when the talks ended, as Reynoso says they moved up last September for Canelo’s title defense against his WBA mandatory Edgar Berlanga.
American fans will be glad that Canelo doesn’t waste any of his valuable fights going up against the 35-year-old Eubank Jr.
13-year pro Eubank Jr’s best career wins came against the older, past their best fighters Liam Smith, James DeGale and Arthur Abraham.
“This is completely false,” said Eddy Reynoso Fight Freaks Unite on the reports of Canelo negotiating to sign Eubank Jr. to fight “Eubank had his chance to fight Canelo in September, and the only thing he did was complicate the negotiations. We will not touch base with him again for a future fight! Whatever I tell you is always true! I don’t like to make statements, but what I state is true.”
Eubank Jr. looked weak in his recent fight against veteran Kamil Szeremeta on October 12 on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. He was coming off a 13-month layoff and looked rusty en route to knocking out Szeremeta in the seventh round.
Eubank Jr. is the son of famous British fighter Chris Eubank, and he has made good money fighting domestic level guys who are not world class. He became a millionaire without ever winning a world title or beating any of the high-ranking fighters during his long 13-year professional career.
Eubank Jr’s estimated at $6.5 millionwhich is an enormous amount for a fighter whose best career win came against 36-year-old Liam Smith in 2023.
The boxing public is hoping that Canelo will fight undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev next or the winner of the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight on January 25 fight. Beterbiev would be the best bet if he could get an exception from the IBF to delay his mandatory defense against Michael Eifert.
Canelo has yet to tell the world that he wants to move up to 175 to challenge undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev for his four titles. Before Beterbiev’s fight against Bivol on October 12, Canelo expressed interest in fighting Dmitri in a rematch should he win. However, with Beterbiev winning their fight by a 12-round majority decision, Canelo went silent.
This can only be interpreted as disinterest on his part, because if he does want to fight Beterbiev, he will have to act quickly before His Excellency Turki Alalshikh gets to work setting up the rematch.
It will be interesting to see if Eubank Jr. continue to put up a fight against Canelo for leverage purposes to help keep his popularity with British fans and to help in his negotiations with Conor Benn.
American fans don’t recognize Eubank Jr. as a serious fighter to follow, and they view him as a guy who never fights significant opposition. He is strictly a British phenomenon. It will be interesting if he tries to break out of form and challenge IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhnuly to show that he is for real.
At this point in the 35-year-old Eubank Jr.’s career, I don’t think that’s going to happen. He is a prize fighter and not someone who is concerned about fighting and winning world titles. The only reason he would fight Canelo would be for the money, not to try and win his titles.
