WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman believes that the winner of Saturday’s household scrap between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn is worthy of shifting as much as the highest 168 to get a world title shot in opposition to unified tremendous middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Sulaiman says Saturday’s winner between Eubank Jr. and Benn might be a “main participant in boxing worldwide,” which is partly true however solely in a celebrity-like method. These two don’t belong in the identical ring with Canelo or any prime fighters of their respective divisions.
It might be a tragic joke and an extra degrading of boxing to have the Eubank Jr.-Benn winner combating Canelo. That’s the equal of taking a Misfits or YouTuber and placing them in with the Mexican star. These two are bush league. If Benn and Eubank Jr. have been legit, they might have been combating elite-level fighters years in the past as an alternative of sentimental opposition.
False “Prime Degree” Standing
You possibly can’t throw Eubank Jr. in with IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly and anticipate him to nonetheless be upright after 4 rounds. You couldn’t take Conor Benn and put him in with IBF and WBA welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or WBO champ Brian Norman Jr. and see him nonetheless functioning after one or two rounds.
“Each are ranked, have been extremely ranked for a few years, and are top-level within the sport. A battle for the championship is doable,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman instructed Sky Sports activities on the opportunity of the winner of Saturday’s British scrap between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn might problem Canelo Alvarez for his unified tremendous middleweight titles.
“Completely. Canelo has launched into a brand new stage of his profession. He’ll battle in Riyadh and is then scheduled to battle in Las Vegas, and the winner this Saturday goes to be a significant participant in boxing worldwide, actually.”
How is Chris Eubank Jr “Prime Degree”? What’s Sulaiman speaking about? Eubank Jr. hasn’t fought anybody to say that he’s “prime degree” within the sport. The over-the-hill 36-year-old Liam Smith doesn’t depend as being a prime fighter, and that’s arguably Eubank Jr’s greatest profession win.
Conor Benn’s greatest profession wins have come in opposition to pale fighters, Chris Algieri and Chris Van Heerden. These guys aren’t top-level, and by no means actually have been. Algieri briefly held the WBO 140-lb title in 2014 when he beat Ruslan Provodnikov in an upset. Nevertheless, in Algieris’ subsequent battle, he was thrashed by Manny Pacquiao, getting dropped six instances. He then slipped again to mediocrity from whence he got here.
Boxing Information 24 » Mauricio Sulaiman Defends Eubank Jr./Benn as “Main Gamers,” Paving Manner for Divisive Canelo Matchup
Final Up to date on 04/24/2025
