Why haven’t Canelo Alvarez and Chris Eubank Jr. reached a fight agreement yet?
Although negotiations are very advanced for a potential fight in September, there’s nothing closed and confirmed yet, but why?
Saul Alvarez wants to stay active and fight again in the second half of the year. September is the month the Guadalajara native wants to return to the ring, but no opponent has been confirmed yet.
The last time Canelo fought was in May when he defeated fellow countryman Jaime Munguia via unanimous decision. He was widely criticized for not taking on top fighters like David Benavidez or Dmitry Bivol in a rematch clash, but Alvarez doesn’t seem to worry about his critics and admitted he will only fight The Mexican Monster if he’s offered $200 million.
Meanwhile, quite a few boxers have raised their hand to show their interest in fighting Canelo, but only two seem to be the favorites, Chris Eubank Jr. and Edgar Berlanga. However, the Briton is in the ‘pole position’, as he’s already negotiating a huge showdown with the Mexican.
Why haven’t Canelo and Eubank Jr. reached an agreement yet?
Both boxers are currently in talks to make the fight happen, but nothing has come to fruition. At least yet. The reason is that Eubank Jr. is negotiating wants to secure a big purse, given he’s fighting a superstar.
Promoter Ben Shalom, who’s working with Eubank Jr., said that there is a 50/50 possibility for the match to take place, but the British boxer is used to earning a certain amount of money, so he wants to negotiate a substantial amount to take on the undisputed super middleweight king.
“As always, it’s about money. Chris has certain expectations for a fight like this; he’s made a lot of money during his career and he’s been offered other big fights, but it’s definitely a fight he wants. Negotiations are ongoing but it all comes down to whether it makes financial sense for him,” Shalom explained.
“Eubank Jr. also wants world titles. It’s good to get someone at that stage of their career, with their name built, ready for the big fights. He’s a realist and knows that the next 18 months to two years are where all his big fights need to happen”, Shalom concluded.