Canelo Alvarez and Chris Eubank Jr's huge disagreement after dad called for fight

Chris Eubank Jr has talked up prospects of facing once again, a year after their two camps had a fierce disagreement over a proposed clash. is preparing to face his great rival, , on Saturday night at Stadium. However, the 35-year-old already has one eye trained on facing Alvarez, should he beat Benn.

A high-profile showdown between Canelo and the British star was talked up by Eubank Jr's father, boxing icon Chris, back in February 2024. Eubank Snr even addressed his son live on talkSPORT, claiming he must beat Alvarez to redeem his boxing career, after his double-header with Liam Smith, of which he won and lost one.

"Let's get to the point, Canelo is the only person he's gonna be able to fight now to redeem any type of respect from the fighting public," Eubank Snr previously said. "I know how you win respect, it's not beating a Liam Smith.

"Junior, this is what my view is - your saving grace is going to be Canelo. You're a 168lbs fighter, Canelo is your way to win respect."

However, for all of Eubank Sr's bravado, it was later claimed by Alvarez's team that Eubank Jr's camp was not forthcoming in negotiations, and so a fight was shelved. Canelo's side also maintained that any future shot at the 34-year-old is now out of the question due to their alleged behaviour during the dialogue.

"That information is totally false," the Mexican fighter's trainer said. "Eubank had his chance to fight Canelo in September, and all he did was complicate the negotiations. So we will not contact him again for a future fight."

However, Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, told Sky Sports in February that a shot at the Mexican super-middleweight champion beckons in 2026.

Boxxer promoter and CEO Ben Shalom also believes Eubank Jr's dream fight is within touching distance. "Chris is in years where he really has to make it count," Shalom said.

"To not beat Conor Benn would be a travesty and so the pressure is on. We have the dreams of fighting against Canelo and fighting for world titles, so Chris has to get through Conor Benn."

While on the subject of facing Alavarez, Eubank himself has said: "I do think that is a next logical fight and this fight, Turki [Alalshikh] is saying, can put me in a position to get in the ring with Canelo, which would be amazing so I agree with him on that."

Eubank Jr is now bidding to become a world champion and comes into the fight with Benn after stoppages over Smith and Kamil Szeremeta. Benn, meanwhile, is seeking to make up for lost time following his lengthy suspension after failing two voluntary drug tests.

He was subequently cleared of any wrongdoing but the delay resulted in the pair's original fight being cancelled in October 2022. Benn has since fought just twice, most recently in February 2024 when he beat Peter Dobson by unanimous decision. Meanwhile, Alvarez could be set to face Terence Crawford in a Las Vegas-based showdown in September.