Chris Eubank Junior insists that the “bad blood” between he and the only man to have beaten him as a pro, Billy Joe Saunders, ensures the two will fight again. But the reigning British champion says there is no way he will ever accept the 80-20 purse split WBO middleweight champ Saunders offered to his father in a recent spat on social media. Though Eubank Jr lost the 12-round decision in November of 2014 he maintains he did not “really” lose the fight and that the rematch will happen because he is a draw while Saunders is a “boring fighter.”
Eubank Jr says he is “not greedy” and will happily take the return if a 50-50 agreement can be reached.
“As far as I understand, he’s trying to price himself out of the fight. He knows 80-20 will never happen,” Eubank Jr told Sky Sports when speaking on Saunders. “He can talk a good game but he’s very boring in the ring. I think he’s an extremely boring fighter. He steals fights and does the bare minimum in my opinion. How many times has he fought in the last year? He’s got a world title belt and he’s not active. It’s embarrassing. He does all his fighting on social media. It (the rematch) has to happen. There’s too much history, rivalry and bad blood. He knows last time was a fluke of luck.”
Eubank Jr says he paced the first fight, his first 12-rounder, wrong and that he would not make that mistake in a return fight. Will it happen? Eubank is correct when he questions Saunders’ activity level (with the southpaw not having boxed this year so far) and as a WBO champ, the close-to-his-peak Saunders has people wondering what he is waiting for (he recently turned down a fight with the always-exciting Gabriel Rosado on the Canelo-Smith card).
With no big fight on the horizon for Saunders (although there is a possibility he might get the call to fight Canelo in December if the Mexican star beats Liam Smith next month; and maybe this is what Saunders is waiting for) and with Eubank Jr failing to get that big one with Gennady Golovkin, it seems a natural for the two bitter rivals to face each other again – and soon, while there is public interest.
Can Eubank avenge his sole loss, or does Saunders have too much skill for him? Will we ever find out?