Curtis Steven claims Chris Eubank Jr was scared of Gennady Golovkin
Tuesday 16 August 2016 17:26, UK
Curtis Stevens has claimed that Chris Eubank Jr was 'scared' of Gennady Golovkin and doubts whether the British fighter will accept his challenge.
Negotiations for a fight between Eubank Jr and Golovkin were abandoned earlier this month and Kell Brook will instead face the Kazakh for his world middleweight titles on September 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Eubank Jr failed to sign the fight contract before a deadline specified by promoter Eddie Hearn and Stevens has since called for a fight with the British champion on social media.
The American traded punches with Golovkin in 2013 - suffering an eighth-round stoppage defeat to 'GGG' - and questioned why Eubank Jr did not agree to challenge the WBA Super, WBC and IBF champion
"I'm not too sure how big he is. I know he's big over there, but in the United States, he's not too famous," Stevens told Sky Sports.
"To start an altercation with Golovkin - it was smart, but for him not to sign the contract and get the fight done was stupid. It was really worthless. You talked a lot of junk, but didn't sign the contract.
"At the end of the day, you're making yourself look bad. People ask the question, 'Why did you call him out? Why did you say you were going to fight him?'
"Now he's fighting Kell Brook."
Brook will step up two weight divisions to face Golovkin, who is considered one of the world's elite fighters, and Stevens (28-5-KO21) is full of respect for the Sheffield man.
"Kell Brook is an excellent fighter," said the New Yorker. "Gennady, Eubank Jr was scared to fight him, no one wants to fight him, so they made that fight happen.
It's obviously a fight that the fans want to see and it will be very exciting to see what happens in the fight, because Kell Brook is slick.
"At the end of the day, this is boxing. Whether he is two weight classes lower, he wasn't scared to take the fight, so he moved up in weight to fight Golovkin.
"It's obviously a fight that the fans want to see and it will be very exciting to see what happens in the fight, because Kell Brook is slick. This is something that you have to watch and wait to see what happens."
Stevens would welcome a fight with Eubank Jr in the future, but believes his middleweight rivals are actively avoiding him.
"Everyone knows what type of power I possess," said Stevens. "I'm not going to say they're scared, but their conscience is telling them no. They're saying, 'Maybe I could, but if he hits me, he could knock me out'.
"I'm very high-risk, so they would rather take an easier fight than a high-risk fight in general.
"I'm going to do what I have to do - work hard, train hard, but if they want a fight, I'm right here."
