Eubank Jr. outslugs Benn in raging fight of the year contender
Instant classic rumble harkens back to the two epic bouts their legendary fathers, who were ringside, waged in the 1990s
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How good was the long-awaited bad-blood grudge match between bitter rivals Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn? So good that decades from now it surely will be remembered in British boxing lore with similar reverence paid to the middleweight and super middleweight world title bouts there legendary fathers produced in two epic battles in the 1990s.
While their sons were not boxing for any titles their middleweight bout captivated the British public and boxing fans in general because of the famed family rivalry, be it memories of Chris Eubank Sr.’s 1990 knockout win and 1993 draw with Nigel Benn or all that has transpired between their sons in recent years.
Eubank Sr. arrived at the stadium unexpectedly with his son despite having been estranged for years but having seemingly patched things up in recent days. He took his place at ringside, as did Nigel, and the sons did them proud as they produced a searing battle that immediately took its place as the leading fight of the year candidate and earned a place as one of the all-time great fights in British boxing history.
In the end, it was the bigger, more experienced Eubank who won an enthralling unanimous decision before an announced sold-out crowd of 67,484 that turned out for the Ring magazine DAZN PPV headliner at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
All three judges scored the instant classic 116-112 for Eubank, as did Fight Freaks Unite.
The showdown — 32 years after their fathers’ rematch — was a long time coming and was the biggest non-heavyweight fight in the United Kingdom since Hall of Famer Carl Froch scored a second straight knockout of rival George Groves to retain the IBF super middleweight title in 2014 before 80,000 at Wembley Stadium.
“I knew I was capable of that,” Eubank said in the ring before being taken to the hospital as a precaution and for an apparent broken jaw. “I just needed someone to bring that out of me. And I’m not going to lie — I didn’t expect he’d be the guy to do that. But the fact that our fathers did what they did all those years ago it brings out a different soul and a different spirit into you, and that’s what we both showed here tonight.”
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Eubank conducted his post-fight interview with his father at his side.
“I pushed through it,” Eubank Jr. said of the rough fight. “There’s a lot of things that have been going on in my life that I’m not going to get into right now but I’m happy to have this man (Chris Sr.) back with me and we’ve kept up the family name like we said we were going to do and onwards and upwards.”
Eubank said it meant a lot to him to have his father at the fight.
“It was one of those things that was special,” he said. “All of this is because of what he did and we just did it again, baby.”
Chris Sr. seemed equally happy to be at his son’s side, despite having many disparaging things to say about him and the fight during the buildup.
“I am so proud of him,” Eubank Sr. said. “That’s my son. That’s why I’m here. I was always going to be here.”
Eubank Jr. and Benn were originally scheduled to meet on Oct. 8, 2022 at The O2 in London, but during fight week one of Benn’s two positive drug tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug Clomiphene came to light and the fight was canceled.
Benn blamed his dirty test results on contaminated eggs, hence the reason Eubank selected a raw egg as his weapon to smash across the face of an unsuspecting Benn when they faced off at their kickoff news conference in February, which only heightened the emotion of the promotion.
Benn fought British regulators every step of the way after the fight was called off and ultimately served a suspension. When he was eventually relicensed in the United Kingdom it set the stage for the inevitable rescheduling of the bout.
Benn was crushed by the loss.
“Maybe 14 months out of the ring played a factor,” Benn said. “Maybe inactivity. But apart from that I felt it was a close fight. I got to watch it back. I know it was close. I stayed on the ropes maybe a bit too long. He worked harder toward the end. I enjoyed it.”
Benn promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing said he thought that despite the loss Benn won over the public with such a gutsy performance.
“Nigel Benn was the people’s champion. Tonight, Conor Benn become the people’s champion,” Hearn said. “He rose up from147 pounds to fight a middleweight. He took the kitchen sink. He never stopped trying to win the fight and that’s what the public loves to see — someone who until the final bell does not stop throwing punches and trying to win.
“I could not be prouder of Conor Benn. I believe he won the heart of the country and everybody that tuned in. It was one of the best fights, one of the most dramatic fights I’ve seen. Big respect to Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn. Those two warriors should respect each other after that.”
The long wait for the fight turned out to be worth it as Benn, a welterweight, once again agreed to move up to middleweight to fight Eubank, who has also had many fights at super middleweight.
Eubank struggled mightily making weight and was 160.05 on Friday — 0.05 over the contract limit, which cost him a $500,000 penalty. Then he was an hour late to the Saturday morning weight check but was able to come in inside the 170 limit.
Many believed the weight trouble would leave him weakened against the smaller but quicker — and not weighed drained — Benn. But Eubank, showing enormous toughness and will, outfought and outpunched Benn, who lost the competitive fight but never stopped pushing for the knockout.
The fight started fast and never relented. Eubank’s size advantage was stark from the opening bell as they both came out blasting, clearly hunting for an early knockout. Both of them stood up to many hellacious punches.
When Benn (23-1, 14 KOs), 28, landed a tremendous right hand in the second round, Eubank didn’t flinch. When Eubank (35-3, 25 KOs), 35,, who finished the round with a bloody nose, landed a right hand later in the round, Benn bent over upon impact.
The entire fight was filled with those kinds of big blows but both of them showed superb chins.
They traded back and fourth round after round with both landing their share of eye-catching shots and leaving referee Victor Loughlin with little to do. Eubank connected with an uppercut in the fourth and Benn later stopped him in his tracks with a left hook to the head.
Eubank and Benn, who were talking to each other throughout the fight, spent a good portion of the sixth round bombing each other toe to toe in a series of violent exchanges. When Eubank landed a crackling right uppercut early in the seventh round, Benn walked through it.
Every single round featured tremendous action and after the eighth round, which was a big one for Eubank, Chris Sr. went to his corner with something to say.
An accidental head butt opened a cut over Eubank’s right eye in the ninth round. A big right from Benn rocked Eubank in the 10th round and however close anybody watching may have it at that point Eubank went all out in the final two rounds and clearly won both.
There was wild action in the final minute of the 11th but the 12th round was something special and a round of the year candidate.
Eubank hurt Benn with a left hook about 20 seconds into the final round during a fierce exchange with Benn on the ropes. Then Benn took another heavy right hand but answered as they pounded away with abandon. Eubank, however, was all over Benn like a man possessed in the final 90 seconds of the fight. Somehow Benn remained on his feet after taking a wicked left hook as he hung down the stretch of an electrifying round.
Nigel Benn, who shared a few moments before and after the fight with Chris Sr., was disappointed his son lost but said it was a learning experience.
“I thought he done really well. He learned a lot from this,” Nigel Benn said. “He’ll come back stronger. He was working too much on the ropes. We’re not taking nothing away from Chris. It’s his night. We can handle defeat gracefully. Now we go back to the drawing board.”
According to CompuBox statistics, Eubank landed 367 of 912 punches (40 percent) and Benn landed 215 of 593 (36 percent). Eubank outlanded Benn in all 12 rounds. He outlanded Eubank by at least six punches in every round, including by double digits in each of the final three rounds. Overall, Eubank Jr. held the advantage in jabs connected (150-35) and power shots (227-180).
“It’s a hard one to swallow,” Benn said at his post-fight news conference. “I didn’t come into the fight thinking it would be that close. I didn’t come into the fight to lose. I didn’t come into the fight for anything apart from winning and obviously it wasn’t good enough. So I need to do better.”
He did show compassion for Eubank, who he may face again near the end of the year as there is an automatic rematch clause in the contact regardless of Saturday’s outcome.
“I wish him well,” Benn said. “I know he’s gone to the hospital. I’ve heard he has a broken jaw. So I wish him a speedy recovery. I also want to thank Senior for turning up because this really is a family affair and it wouldn’t have been what it was without Senior.”
Benn also said he wanted the rematch.
“I want my revenge,” Benn said. “I had Eubank hurt multiple times, three, four times noticeably. I just couldn’t get the finish. I’ll make sure for next time I finish. It hurts. No one likes to lose. We always knew Chris is a good fighter. All the fighting talk is fighting talk. He’s a good fighter. I believe I can fight at 160. If we don’t do the rematch, which I’d love to avenge that loss, go back down to welterweight and win the WBC world title. It’s either (WBC welterweight titlist) Mario Barrios or the rematch with Eubank. Whichever happens next I’ll be content with.”
Eubank did not directly address the rematch but gave Benn his just due.
“I didn’t know he had what he had in him. I really didn’t,” Eubank said. “I thought I would break him early. I underestimated him. I didn’t train for a fight like that.
“I didn’t know he had that in him. He’s never shown that. But then again he’s never had to show it. He had to show it tonight. So did I.”
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Photos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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Timely write up! Accurate. Best PPV fight in quite some time. Well worth the price.
DTM and fight freaks, im still trying to decide if that was just a British Classic or an overall Classic? One of the best overall entertaining fights ive seen in a long time. Fair play to both those lads, boxing won yesterday🥊