September is not the best month for a stadium battle between superstar Canelo Alvarez and Chris Eubank Jr. in the UK, according to Ben Shalom, the promoter of Eubank Jr.
The fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, which is slated to take place on September 21 at Wembley Stadium, would collide, according to Shalom, if Canelo and Eubank Jr. were to be staged in September.
According to Shalom, Eubank Jr. (33-3, 24 KOs) was given the opportunity to fight Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) in Las Vegas. Canelo might not have been thrilled to bring Eubank Jr. to the United States if he had been eyeing a fight in the United Kingdom since American fans wouldn’t be interested in seeing the contest take place in person.
In the United States, Canelo can fight a variety of opponents and sell more tickets than he would in a matchup with Eubank Jr., 34. A battle involving Eubank Jr. is only appealing if it takes place in the United Kingdom. Eubank Jr. is a waste of time otherwise.
In the United States, Canelo can fight a variety of opponents and sell more tickets than he would in a matchup with Eubank Jr., 34. A battle involving Eubank Jr. is only appealing if it takes place in the United Kingdom. Eubank Jr. is a waste of time otherwise.
It would be fascinating to watch if Shalom continues to stand his ground and opposes holding the Canelo-Eubank Jr. fight in the UK in September. All they would have left are the uncompetitive bouts between Conor Benn and Kell Brook if they could talk themselves out of the fight with Canelo.
“The difficulty we’ve had with that one is that with the ‘AJ’ card on September 21, it’s hard to envision another stadium card a week either side of that,” said promoter Shalom in media reports.
This may be Eubank Jr.’s only opportunity to compete for a world championship and the only time he will face Canelo. When the negotiations broke down in 2016, Eubank Jr. was already denied the opportunity to fight a prime Gennadiy Golovkin. Eddie Hearn, the promoter, intervened and put Kell Brook against Golovkin.