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Promoters Eddie Hearn and Ben Shalom have revealed various details around a long-awaited fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn – more than two years after the bout collapsed.
Eubank Jr and Benn were due to fight in October 2022, almost 30 years after their fathers Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn completed their iconic in-ring rivalry. But the bout was thwarted on late notice, due to two failed drug tests by Benn, who was then stripped of his British boxing licence.
Benn is finally free to box in the UK again, having competed in the US over the last two years, and a reorganised clash with Eubank Jr could be announced this week.
At the Ring Magazine awards on Saturday (11 January), Eubank Jr suggested to iFL TV that a deal was close to being struck, while Benn was apparently more hesitant to disclose any information. The pair’s promoters then spoke to iFL and addressed various elements of the mooted fight.
“As long as they don’t keep changing the goalposts at the last minute, [a deal could be announced this week],” said Shalom, who promotes Eubank Jr, 35.
Hearn, who promotes 28-year-old Benn, added: “All the contracts and fights are being negotiated individually, so I’m not negotiating with him [Shalom], he’s not negotiating with me. Otherwise, by the way, we wouldn’t be in this position. It wouldn’t have got done, not because of you [Shalom] and me, but because I would have had to deal with you and Eubank, and we would have made some requests…
“Put it this way: it’s a lot easier when Turki’s making the requests to Conor and to Eubank, than it is [with] me or [Shalom] making the requests,” Hearn continued, referencing Saudi adviser Turki Al-Sheikh, the man behind boxing’s recent spate of top-level fight cards.
When asked about a venue, Hearn said, “Here – UK, baby,” and while he would not comment on whether the fight would take place at Wembley Stadium, he said: “It’s a stadium.” That could refer to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which hosted Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 1 in 2021, and Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora in 2022.
When asked whether the fight would be billed as Eubank Jr vs Benn or Benn vs Eubank Jr, Hearn said: “Eubank-Benn. That’s another concession.” Shalom said that would also apply to the order of the ring walks, with Eubank Jr walking second.
But Hearn said: “To be honest, that’s not really a concern. It’s not been discussed, and at the end of the day, the first fight… there were parameters in place around that. There is a difference now with the weight, which we accept, and we take it on the chin. Despite all the talk, I don’t really believe that [Eubank Jr] would have made 157lb the first time around. But it’s irrelevant now.”
He added, “If it gets done, there’ll be an announcement next week,” to which Shalom said: “I don’t know. We keep saying it’s a couple of days. I think it’s close.”
