Mauricio Sulaiman Defends Eubank Jr./Benn as “Major Players,” Paving Way for Divisive Canelo Matchup

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman believes that the winner of Saturday’s family scrap between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn is worthy of moving up to the top 168 to get a world title shot against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

Sulaiman says Saturday’s winner between Eubank Jr. and Benn will be a “major player in boxing worldwide,” which is partly true but only in a celebrity-like way. These two don’t belong in the same ring with Canelo or any top fighters in their respective divisions.

It would be a sad joke and a further degrading of boxing to have the Eubank Jr.-Benn winner fighting Canelo. That’s the equivalent of taking a Misfits or YouTuber and putting them in with the Mexican star. Those two are bush league. If Benn and Eubank Jr. were legit, they would have been fighting elite-level fighters years ago instead of soft opposition.

False “Top Level” Status

You can’t throw Eubank Jr. in with IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly and expect him to still be upright after four 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 still functioning after one or two rounds.

“Both are ranked, have been highly ranked for many years, and are top-level in the sport. A fight for the championship is doable,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Sky Sports on the possibility of the winner of Saturday’s British scrap between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn could challenge Canelo Alvarez for his unified super middleweight titles.

“Absolutely. Canelo has embarked on a new stage of his career. He will fight in Riyadh and is then scheduled to fight in Las Vegas, and the winner this Saturday is going to be a major player in boxing worldwide, certainly.”

How is Chris Eubank Jr “Top Level”? What is Sulaiman talking about? Eubank Jr. hasn’t fought anyone to say that he’s “top level” in the sport. The over-the-hill 36-year-old Liam Smith doesn’t count as being a top fighter, and that’s arguably Eubank Jr’s best career win.

Conor Benn’s best career wins have come against faded fighters, Chris Algieri and Chris Van Heerden. Those guys are not top-level, and never truly were. Algieri briefly held the WBO 140-lb title in 2014 when he beat Ruslan Provodnikov in an upset. However, in Algieris’ next fight, he was thrashed by Manny Pacquiao, getting dropped six times. He then slipped back to mediocrity from whence he came.