Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn will be battling it out in the eagerly-awaited middleweight bout, as the two British boxers finally come face-to-face, years after their initial middleweight bout was called off.
Continuing in the footsteps of their fathers, the pair will be continuing a family rivalry going back decades, as they finally take to the ring as the main event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Eubank Jr, 35, is the more experienced of the pair, with 28-year-old Benn, 28, winning all 23 of his professional fights (14 by KO).
With a shot at super-middleweight king Canelo Alvarez on the line, the WBC (World Boxing Council) have said that it would back the winner to take on the champion. This bout comes 32-years after the fighters' fathers fought the second of their two fights (in 1990 and 1993), with Eubank Sr clinching a ninth-round TKO victory against Nigel Benn in the pair's first bout before the two fought to a draw three years later.
The sons, who have built a rivalry of their own over the past few years, were meant to fight at the O2 Arena, in 2022, but Benn failed two voluntary drug tests that resulted in the contest being cancelled just 48 hours before it was scheduled to take place. He tested positive for the banned substance clomifene in two VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) tests, before having his licence removed by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC).
Benn's suspension was lifted in a ruling by the NADP (National Anti-Doping Panel) in 2023, with him making his return to the ring that September in a unanimous decision win over Rodolfo Orozco in Orlando. He went on to beat Peter Dobson by unanimous decision in Nevada in February 2024, before his suspension was reintroduced in May following an appeal from UKAD and the BBBoC, with his provisional suspension being eventually lifted in 2024, after the NADP said that they were not “comfortably satisfied" that he had committed a doping offence.
Despite not being able to bring it to the ring until now, the pair have had frequent spats in the media, the most high-profile of which came in February during a face-off at a press conference in Manchester. In the build-up to this epic bout, Eubank Jr slapped Benn with an egg, which led to the two fighters having to be held back by security while Nigel Benn, the father of Conor, appeared to grab Eubank Jr by the throat.
The stunt was seemingly in relation to the WBC's claim in early 2023 that a "highly elevated consumption of eggs" was a "reasonable explanation" for Benn's failed test. Eubank Jr subsequently posted on X: "Apparently egg contamination was the reason for his two failed drugs tests.
“So, I contaminated him with an egg." Of the fight, Benn says he will try to enjoy the occasion.
"I'm undefeated, so every fight is... well, I especially don't want to lose to this man," he says. He went on to say that he doesn't hate Eubank Jr - but described him as “an idiot".
Eubank Jr, who says that he hasn't been on speaking terms with his father for some time, admitted: "We had one conversation a few months back and he showed no interest in wanting to be a part of the fight.
"I was hoping that would change, but it hasn’t. So, at this moment in time, it does not look like he will be there."
