Darren Barker doubts Chris Eubank Jr could beat Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Demetrius Andrade or Jermall Charlo

Darren Barker is not convinced Chris Eubank Jr will ever realise his dreams of becoming a middleweight champion due to the strength of the current crop of champions.

‘Next Gen’ returns to the ring on December 11 in an all-British grudge match with Liam Williams at the MotorPoint Arena in Cardiff.

4

The Welshman is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to WBO champion Demetrius Andrade in April by securing the biggest name on his CV.

However, Eubank Jr still harbours world title dreams himself and has always wanted to fight IBF champion Gennady Golovkin.

The Kazakh takes on WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata to close out 2021 in a unification fight, with WBC champion Jermall Charlo awaiting his next bout also.

Barker held the IBF trinket himself at 160lbs, but fears the current generation of fighters competing in one of boxing’s most perilous divisions are too strong for the Englishman.

4

“If I’m honest, the crop of fighters you’ve just said there I don’t think Chris beats any of those guys,” Barker told talkSPORT.

“They are elite level fighters.

“It’d be interesting to see what Golovkin has got left, he’s been out of the ring a little while and he’s fighting Ryota Murata on December 29^th, so that will be interesting.

“But he doesn’t, at the minute, beat that crop of fighters. In all fairness, you need a bit of luck in boxing.

4

4

“I’m pretty sure if I was around I wouldn’t have beaten any of those so I wouldn’t have been calling myself a world champion!

“So it just so happens there are some good fighters in the middleweight division at the minute.

“He will have one eye on the world champions, but most importantly, he can’t overlook Liam Williams.

“He obviously has his own goals and aspirations of being a middleweight world champion.”