The WBC has backed the winner of Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn to become the next challenger of super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
The two born-rivals will stand off in one of the most hotly-anticipated bouts in British boxing history this weekend, more than three decades on from when their esteemed fathers, Chris Sr and Nigel, settled their own bitter in-ring grudge.
The fight will take place a middleweight, which has forced Benn to move up two divisions from his preferred welterweight class.
However, if the 28-year-old comes out on top at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he may be tasked with piling on even more mass for his next fight in the event that he’s pitted against former undisputed champion Alvarez.
“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 when asked if the winner of Eubank vs Benn could face Alvarez.
Alvarez, 34, currently holds the WBC, WBA and WBO super-middleweight titles and could regain his undisputed status when he fights William Scull next weekend.
And while he is also expected to fight American pound-for-pound titan Terence Crawford later this year, Sulaiman has vowed that whoever gets their arm raised this Saturday will be a serious player in the title picture.
“Absolutely. Canelo has embarked on a new stage of his career,” he added. “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.”
Eubank Jr, 35, has competed at super-middleweight before and will surely welcome a shot at boxing goliath Alvarez, should he come out victorious this weekend.
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However, fighting Alvarez is a much less plausible goal for the smaller Benn, who has previously stated he will move back to welterweight after this weekend to pursue gold.
Benn is already a top contender in his preferred division, sitting at No 3 in the WBC welterweight world rankings.
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