Chris Eubank Jr v Liam Williams: Ben Shalom says winner will have world title shot in sights

The winner of Chris Eubank Jr's middleweight fight with Liam Williams will fire themselves into world title contention, promoter Ben Shalom says.

The Boxxer chief executive is promoting the Cardiff fight and says neither man can afford a loss at this stage in their career.

Shalom revealed middleweight great and IBF champion Gennady Golovkin was a potential opponent for the winner.

«A world title shot is on the line,» Shalom told BBC Sport.

«Chris is a fighter who a lot of these fighters want to avoid and it can be difficult. But we're confident and looking at the winner of Ryota Murata and Golovkin. There's massive fights out there for Chris — Billy Joe Saunders and even Kell Brook.

»But from speaking to Top Rank and the Golovkin team, we're looking at the winner fighting the winner of Golovkin and Murata."

He added: «They both have world title ambitions, they both want to be world champions. Chris sees this as his stepping stone into a genuine pay-per-view star on Sky and Liam Williams will see this as his last chance really.»

Eubank, 32, has long chased a fight with the biggest middleweights on the planet, but the two losses of his career came at crucial periods.

A 2014 split decision defeat against Billy Joe Saunders blemished his then 18-0 unbeaten record, while his first world title shot against George Groves ended in a one-sided defeat.

Neither loss tarnished Eubank's reputation as he emerged as an all-action, tireless fighter, but he has fallen just short at world title level.

Williams, 29, too has stumbled on the big stage. Back-to-back defeats by Liam Smith in 2017 desperately frustrated the Welshman before his first world title shot against WBO champion Demetrius Andrade in April ended in a points loss.

Shalom