Chris Eubank Jr ‘Hungry’ To Achieve More: ‘I Want To Continue My Family Name’
Chris Eubank Jr insists he is still “hungry” to achieve more during his boxing career and remains motivated to emulate his legendary father.
Eubank (33-3-0 24 KO) returns from 13 months of inactivity when he fights Kamil Szeremeta (25-2-2 8 KO) on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the stacked undercard of the undisputed light-heavyweight fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dimitrii Bivol.
The British middleweight had been in advanced negotiations with unified super-middleweight world champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, so the pivot to face Szerementa after Canelo opted to fight Edgar Berlanga represents a step in an entirely different direction.
Instead of fighting the sport’s biggest star for world titles, Eubank will be taking on a fighter not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four major sanctioning bodies; Szeremeta is not even the top-ranked middleweight in Poland.
At 33 years old and after 36 pro fights, time is running out for Eubank to become a world champion – his biggest title so far was the IBO super-middleweight belt – but in an interview with Sky Sports, he said he still has the drive to achieve more in the remaining years of his career.
Eubank Fighting To ‘Inspire The Kids’
“All the things I’ve done, the money I’ve made, the fights I’ve won, it hasn’t stopped my hunger for wanting to achieve more in the sport,” he said. “I’m not hungry at a financial level. I’m hungry in terms of boxing, to go out there to win, to inspire the public, to inspire the kids coming up, to inspire myself. That’s the most important thing for me.
“At the end of my career, am I going to be proud when I look back? Because I’m going to have to live with it for another 60 years before I go. Did I do everything I could while I was able to in my career?”
After his fight with Szeremeta, which Eubank is expected to win comfortably, he wants to challenge for a middleweight world title. The Englishman is well positioned across the 160lb division and is ranked third by the WBC, fifth by the IBF, sixth by the WBO, and seventh by the WBA.
Eubank named WBA champion Erislandy Lara as an opponent he would like to challenge – more for the title than the Cuban, who is booked for his next title defense against Danny Garcia on September 14, incidentally on the undercard of Canelo’s bout with Berlanga.
WBA Champion Lara ‘Of Great Interest’
“That’s definitely a fight that’s of great interest to me. I haven’t got a middleweight world title. I’ve always dreamed of having it and the fight’s there. It’s right there,” he said. “The name Lara is not the most appealing, no. But the world title is for sure. That’s like a personal thing. Financially, there’s way bigger fights out there, but having that world title that’s another level.”
Despite his comparatively modest success in the ring, Eubank remains one of the biggest names in British boxing and has used his profile to hold talks with pound-for-pound stars like Canelo and Gennady Golovkin.
While neither fight materialized, Eubank says he still wants those “mega-fights” – and he believes wins over pound-for-pound contenders would put his achievements alongside his legendary father. Chris Eubank Sr was a two-weight world champion and is considered one of the finest fighters in British boxing history.
“It puts me on the path to being able to compete with my father’s achievements,” he said. “If you don’t genuinely obsess about being the best fighter you can be, you will never make it. That was the number one driving factor for me becoming what my father didn’t think I could become, becoming what no one thought I could become – which is a great fighter. Secondary was I want that lifestyle. I want to be somebody. I want to continue my family name.”
