Sam Eggington insists he won’t sell himself short to land a showdown with Chris Eubank Junior.
Eggington defends his WBC Silver middleweight title on Friday night against Bilel Jkitou in Coventry’s Skydome arena and he was offered the chance to face Eubank instead.
He rejected it because he felt the purse was too low and says he won’t undersell himself.
“The Eubank fight was offered to me, there just wasn’t enough money there,” he said.
“It was not long after my last fight. They offered us a purse, we asked for a bit more and they didn’t even come back, so they must have had someone else lined up who was cheaper.
“He’s a big middleweight, super-middle sometimes, and I just wanted the money to be worth the fight, but they didn’t come back to us.
“If they had offered fair money, would I have taken the fight? One hundred per cent. It just didn’t happen.
“I’m not going to undersell myself for anything. Boxing is hard enough as it is.
“I don’t see why the fight can’t happen. It’s not a fight I would turn down given the right offer, I’d take him on.”
Eggington, 27, is coming off the back of wins over Ashley Theophane and Carlos Molina and is keen to add the unbeaten Jkitou to his list of scalps and continue his push for a world title shot.
Jkitou is supported by Real Madrid star Karin Benzema after the pair became friends on social media, but Eggington is unimpressed.
“It means nothing to me,” said the Stourbridge fighter.
“He’s unbeaten at the moment, that’s dangerous enough for me. Who he’s fought, I don’t think he’s fought a crazy level of opponent, but we’ll find out. These are the sort of things I get up for.
“He could be solid or he might not be, we’ll find out.
“You just want the ‘w’. I do want to make a statement, this kid is unbeaten and I need to show people he wasn’t good enough.
“I’m on a bit of a wave at the minute, I’ve picked up a few good wins and I’m just hungry to keep that going.”
- Eggington v Jkitou is live on Friday on Channel 5 from 10pm.
