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Eddie Hearn shoved rival promoter Ben Shalom amid chaotic scenes between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn on Tuesday night.
During a heated exchange in Manchester, Eubank had already made reference to two drugs tests Benn failed in 2022 due to what the World Boxing Council called a “highly elevated consumption of eggs” – an offence for which he has since been cleared.
As the fighters faced off on stage, Eubank pulled an egg from his pocket and smashed it against Benn’s face, sparking a brawl as Hearn and Benn’s father Nigel tried to get at Eubank and his team. Video which later circulated showed Hearn shove Shalom on stage in the melee.
Eubank and Benn will fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 26 April, but had originally been due to face off in October 2022 before Benn’s failed tests forced the fight to be called off.
Later Hearn explained that he was angry because he believed his rival knew about Eubank’s egg plot, but Shalom insisted he had no idea what his fighter was planning.
“I thought was a glass first of all,” Hearn said. “Whatever it was, he’s hit Conor in the eye with something. What I was angry about is because I believe everything that Eubank does is premeditated. He didn’t go into the kitchen this morning get an egg out of the fridge, not telling anyone what he was going to do and just turn up.”
Shalom insisted he was left in the dark about Eubank’s plans, saying: “Did I expect that? No. Should he have done it? No, probably not, but I don’t think it was as bad as we first thought.”
Hearn warned that the tone had now been set for both the build-up and the fight itself, and that “provisions” would need to be put in place for the rest of the promotional schedule to keep the peace.
“Conor’s not gonna sleep on this and then go, ‘Oh, it’s OK, yeah, don’t worry about Chris’. As soon as he sees Eubank, he’s going to attack him. So it’s our job now to make sure that we have the provisions in place to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
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Eubank said during the press conference: “Conor, I have been meaning to ask you how many eggs you had to eat to fail those drugs tests. All you and Eddie (Hearn) say is, ‘We are cleared’, but you don’t say how. I am not an academic, but I know one thing – you are a drug cheat.”
Benn originally tested positive for the female fertility drug clomifene.
The 28-year-old, who has a 23-0 record, was cleared to fight in the UK in November last year after the UK Anti-Doping Agency announced it would not appeal against a decision from the National Anti-Doping Panel to lift his ban, with the British Boxing Board of Control also declining to appeal.
It remains a sore point for Benn and before the main press conference he was involved in an angry exchange with a journalist when asked if he was going to use a foreign licence for the fight.
“If somebody starts asking me trick questions, I’ll throw you out of the room,” Benn said. “I’ll drag you by the neck outside and put you outside.”
