Billy Joe Saunders interested in Chris Eubank Jr fight

By Michael Collins - 02/06/2022 - Comments

Billy Joe Saunders is interested in potentially facing Chris Eubank Jr. in a rematch and he’s waiting to see what the offer is from them.

Saunders, 32, feels he would beat the highly ranked #1 WBA middleweight Eubank Jr. (32-2, 23  KOs) without any problems, even if he were “half-dead”  from making weight.

The former two-division world champion Saunders (30-1, 14  KOs) is ready to return to the ring after resting for the last nine months after losing his WBO 168-lb title Canelo Alvarez in a unification fight

Saunders beat Eubank Jr. by a 12 round split decision eight years ago in November 2014.  For that fight, the scores were 115-114,115-113 for Saunders and 116-113  for Eubank Jr.

Saunders wasn’t overly impressed with what he saw of Eubank  Jr. last Saturday with his victory over Liam Williams (23-4-1, 18 KOs).

Apart from the knockdowns, Williams was giving Eubank   Jr a lot of problems. The judges scored it wide for Eubank Jr. by the scores 116-108,116-109 and 117-109.

Saunders open to talks for Eubank  Jr fight

After all these years, we finally might see a rematch between Billy Joe and Eubank Jr. It’s the perfect match for both fighters, as neither of them is in the position to get a lucrative fight against Gennady Golovkin.

“He got my number and rung me but I’m still under contract with DAZN, and he obviously isn’t with DAZN,” said Billy Joe Saunders to iFL TV on promoter Ben Shalom on a possibility of him facing Chris Eubank Jr.

Billy Joe Saunders interested in Chris Eubank Jr fight

“I don’t know what kind of agreement they could come to make the fight. But I’m sure they could get together and the fight could get made, I’m sure.

“He didn’t have a good night,”  said Saunders when asked about his view of Liam Williams’ performance against Eubank Jr. “When Eubank Jr. can outbox something, that’s when you know you’ve had a bad night.

“His [Eubank Jr] boxing ability is like a baby giraffe that just came out. It was terrible. To try and imitate the type of the great Roy Jones Jr, it’s not even boxing. I’ve seen Liam spar better than that. I’m not making excuses.

“He got beat fair and square. I had it very wide on the scorecards for Eubank. To get knocked down by a jab, you’ve got to be either weight-drained or shot-drunk. I don’t think he’s shot-drunk. I don’t think it’s wear & tear,” said Saunders.

Part of the problem  Eubank Jr. has is he’s trying to box like a copy of his trainer Roy Jones Jr, and that pot shot style doesn’t suit him well.

Eubank Jr. doesn’t possess the hand speed to thrive with that style, and he’s going to get beaten when he steps it up a level, be it against GGG or one of the other top middleweights.

Williams has achieved more than Eubank Jr

“Liam has achieved more than him,”  said Saunders on his opinion that Williams has done more in his career than Eubank Jr. “Liam has boxed for a world title already. I know Eubank has won the IBO,  but realistically, you can’t really class that.

Billy Joe Saunders interested in Chris Eubank Jr fight

“You can’t say it was a good performance because if you listen to the commentary, without the knockdowns, they had it close. It wasn’t a Muhammad Ali or Roy Jones Jr. type of fight.

“A 32-year-old, who ain’t been a world champion, still not a world champion at 32,  does he plan on boxing until he’s 42?” said Saunders about Eubank Jr. “I can’t give him much credit because I haven’t seen him in there with anybody to give him credit.

“Let him fight somebody that’s a good credible opponent and let’s see what happens. I’ve seen him at this level [domestic] for many years.  I boxed me for British, Commonwealth, and European.

Obviously, every time he’s boxed against world champions, he’s come off second-best,” said Saunders about Eubank Jr. struggling when facing the best.

Chris Jr. hasn’t done anything with his career since losing to George Groves in 2018. It’s as if that defeat took the wind out of Eubank’s sails, robbing him of what little ambition he had.

Eubank Jnr. will NEVER be world champion

“When he steps up and beats a registered fighter, you have to give him credit, but until then, I’ve always said he won’t be world champion and he’d never be a world champion,” said  Saunders. “I know what it takes to be a world champion. I’ve shared the ring with him.  He hasn’t got it.

“If they had a catchweight and Eubank had to come down, then I fancy Conor Benn in the fight,” said Saunders on his belief that welterweight Conor Benn would beat Eubank Jr at catchweight.

“It doesn’t matter if I do the weight comfortably or not. I could do the weight half dead and still beat him,” said Saunders when asked if he can make the 168-lb limit comfortably for a fight with Eubank Jr.

“So that wouldn’t be the issue. He hasn’t got what it takes to beat me. He’ll box when I’m ready. He hasn’t really done anything in the game apart from his dad’s name where you can let someone call the shots.

“I’ve tried to deal with them before under Frank Warren, and they’re very difficult people to deal with. If they want to talk about it, let them get on the phone and we’ll see what they’re offering,” said Billy Joe.

If Eubank Jr. fights  Gennady Golovkin or JermallCharlo, he’ll surely lose. Those guys won’t have any problems dealing with his check left  hooks and uppercuts, which are his only weapons in his arsenal.

Saunders waiting for an offer

“Anybody with any brain knows it’ll be Saunders-Eubank,” said Saunders.  “I don’t think that’ll get in the way of the negotiations if Kalle is involved because he’s very honorable and he’s been around the game for a long time.

“If Kalle wants to get involved, no problem. Put an offer forward with the date, place, venue and we’ll get the ball rolling. It’s not a problem. It’s good sitting down,  but then you get bored with it.

“I can see why fighters when they come back now at this time and age, you think,  ‘Oh, they must be coming back for the money?’ Realistically, it’s boredom.

“I wouldn’t be coming back for a fight that’s not high-profile, that the thing. It’s got to be one of those types of fights that gets you up,”  said Saunders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FptdFBygWUE