Super-fight boxing’s loss could turn out to be British boxing’s gain. As stars Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will not be fighting one another any time soon – both now looking at getting it on next September, much to the displeasure of fight fans, 99-percent of which are currently blaming Canelo and his team for the big one not coming off way sooner – the two stars are now focusing on facing a British fighter in their next ring appearance.
It’s been confirmed how Alvarez will challenge Liam Smith for his WBO 154-pound title in Las Vegas on September 17th, while GGG is reportedly close to agreeing to defend his collection of middleweight belts against British champ Chris Eubank Junior, also possibly in September (barring a loss suffered by Eubank against Tom Doran tonight). So two good British fighters, both of whom are now close to getting the opportunity to pull off a massive upset, will likely earn a small fortune at the same time.
The critics say neither Smith, unbeaten at 23-0-1(13) nor Eubank, 22-1(17) has much of a chance to pull off the upset, but both men have talent, skill and a whole lot of pride. Both of these fights will likely be competitive.
Let’s look at Canelo-Smith first. Canelo has fought a number of British fighters – Amir Khan last time out and Matthew Hatton and Ryan Rhodes before that – and each of them gave him a good fight. Smith is not as talented or as fast as Khan, but he is the defending champion, he is unbeaten and he has been stopping opponents lately. Coming from a great fighting family, with his three brothers having also achieved much in the sport, Smith is also trained by the underrated Joe Gallagher. Smith is well and truly up against it against the 47-1-1(33) Alvarez, but if anyone can come up with a game-plan to see him to victory, it is Gallagher.
If Smith can pull this one off, both his and his trainer’s stock will obviously soar. This is not a terribly bad fight, it just looks that way as a “replacement” for Canelo-GGG. No, it’s not pay-per-view worthy, and the number of buys this fight generates will prove interesting (will Canelo’s fan base shrink in light of the way he has been perceived to have “ducked” Golovkin?) but it’s not a gross mismatch and the action should be good. And win or lose, Smith will gain plenty of experience and at age 27 he will be able to come again.
GGG-Eubank Junior is also a fight that is growing on some (me included). Maybe it’s hot air and nothing more, but Eubank Jr and his father sound most convincing when they speak of being positive that they can together topple the feared and avoided pound-for-pounder. Eubank Jr does seem genuinely confident and he has, unlike many other fighters you could mention, actually asked – even demanded – the fight.
Eubank Jr has shown flashes of brilliance, he looks to have inherited at least a section of his father’s legendary chin (although Junior has never faced a puncher like GGG before) and he has decent power to go with his improved conditioning. Will this be enough to upset Golovkin? Probably not, but at least with Eubank Jr, GGG will be challenged by a fighter who genuinely wants to fight him and may believe in his heart that he can beat him. This is no sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, but a solid challenger who, although a significant underdog, is no patsy.
Something tells me Golovkin, 35-0(32) will have one of his more interesting fights if he indeed accepts Eubank’s brave challenge.
And for British boxing fans, the chance to see Golovkin in the flesh (probably in London) will be something special all by itself. Even if there is no fairytale ending.