CHRIS EUBANK JR returns to the ring for the first time in more than a year this Saturday night as he takes on fellow Brit Marcus Morrison.
But the fight the 31-year-old is striving towards more than any other is a clash against legendary middleweight Gennady Golovkin.
The pair nearly met way back in 2016 before negotiations broke down and Kell Brook stepped in to fight Golovkin.
Now five years on, Eubank will feel with the Kazakh rapidly approaching 40 that it is the perfect time to claim a huge scalp.
Eubank possesses a high profile but he is still searching for a marquee win that will announce him as a serious world level contender.
Could Golovkin be a case of right place, right time?
SunSport takes a look at the stats of both men below:
AGE
Golovkin is 39 and widely considered to be coming towards the end of his career.
Eubank is eight years younger than his adversary and is also the fresher of the two fighters.
EXPERIENCE
Golovkin has had far more experience than Eubank as both an amateur and professional.
He had 21 more contests than Eubank as an amateur and has been a pro five years longer.
Golovkin has been fighting world title fights for the last 11 years and held a version of the middleweight belt for a staggering eight years before losing to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in September 2018.
Meanwhile, Eubank’s only legitimate world title fight came in defeat to George Groves in 2018.
PHYSICAL
There is no doubting the fact that Golovkin has begun to show signs of ageing in his last couple of fights.
Against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019 he only managed to squeak out the victory by split decision, a result many felt was controversial.
With that being said, Eubank has not fought since December 2019 and even that contest only lasted a little more than one round.
So the Brit’s last majorly competitive bout came against James DeGale in February 2019.
As a result, there is no way of knowing whether Eubank’s inactivity could lead to ring rust or a drop off in performance.
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What’s been said?
Eubank Jr on Golovkin: “Gennady Golovkin is at the top for the simple fact that I’ve been trying to get that fight for years. I know I can beat him.
“The fight was pretty much made a few years back and it slipped through my fingers.
“It’s always bothered me, it’s always been a regret of mine. I wouldn’t want to finish my career not having fought him.
“And he has a middleweight world title. Simple. On top of all that.”
EXPERTS SAY
Ex-fighter Barry McGuigan speaking earlier this year on Eubank’s chances against Golovkin: “IBF king GGG is a good fight for him. He’s 38 years old now.
“No matter how good you are, after the number of fights he has had as an amateur and pro, he is not getting better.
“Victory over GGG opens the door to big unification bouts.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
