Blackwell urges Eubank Jr to stop name-dropping GGG and step up in class

LONDON (20 OCTOBER) Reigning British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell has poured scorn on domestic rival Chris Eubank Jr’s WBA interim title fight this Saturday (October 24) and encouraged him to stop making idle boasts and start making meaningful fights.

Eubank Jr this week claimed he has sights set on a showdown with WBA and IBF world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, but, on Saturday night, meets Tony Jeter, an American with three stoppage defeats and not a single standout win on his record.

Blackwell is left confused.

“I’ve never heard of Eubank Jr’s next opponent,” he concedes. “I just assumed it was an eight-round warm-up fight until someone told me they were actually putting it on as a title defence. That just blew my mind. It’s a joke. At least if you’re going to pretend to be some kind of ‘world champion’, fight someone we all know.

“As for the Golovkin talk, it’s hilarious. I’d be surprised if he fights Spike O’Sullivan in December, let alone Golovkin. I think they’re worried about O’Sullivan, so you can imagine what they truly think of a fight with Golovkin.

“Golovkin would toy with Eubank Jr and make him look stupid. I think he’d smash him to pieces within four rounds. But, if Golovkin wanted to, he could knock him out in one.

“The Eubanks know what they’re doing, though. They know that if they make stupid statements about Golovkin, people will at least have an opinion and be talking about them. They have no intention of ever stepping into a ring with Golovkin, but that won’t stop them pretending in order to generate some column inches.”

Of course, what Blackwell really wants is the chance to pick up where Billy Joe Saunders left off and add another defeat to Eubank Jr’s record. It’s a fight he has wanted for some time now. It’s one he feels should happen.

“Unfortunately, the only way that fight will ever happen is if Spike pulls out of their proposed December 12 date and they offer me the fight on two or three weeks’ notice,” he says.

“Eubank Jr would never have the guts to fight me with a full eight or ten-week training camp behind me. He knows exactly what would happen if I was given that amount of time to prepare. He’s been in the ring with me before and he knows he wasn’t able to handle me.”

*** Nick Blackwell defends his British middleweight title against unbeaten challenger Elliott Matthews on November 14 at Bristol’s City Academy, LIVE on Channel 5.

For tickets to BANG BANG: The Knockout Kings, please contact the Ticketline Box Office on 0844 888 4402, the Sanigar Events Box Office on 0117 949 6699 or visit www.hennessysports.com ***