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A planned face-off between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn has been cancelled, one day after Eubank Jr slapped his rival in the face with an egg.
On Tuesday, Eubank Jr and Benn met at a press conference in Manchester, with a separate face-off originally scheduled for Wednesday, and a final press conference following on Thursday.
However, the chaos of Tuesday’s event has led to the cancellation of Wednesday’s face-off, per The Ring – a magazine owned by Saudi adviser Turki Alalshikh, boxing’s chief matchmaker. Despite this, Thursday’s press conference is due to go ahead, The Independent understands.
Tuesday’s event ended with Eubank Jr cracking an egg in Benn’s face, leading security guards to hold back both boxers. In the fracas, Benn screamed, “Get off me!” while his father Nigel grabbed Eubank Jr by the neck. Eddie Hearn, who promotes Benn, shoved Eubank Jr’s promoter Ben Shalom.
The wild scene capped off a tense day, with The Independent present as Benn threatened to drag one journalist out of an interview “by the neck” – before the unbeaten welterweight apologised and gave the journalist a “cuddle”, which was begrudgingly accepted.
Benn, 28, and Eubank Jr, 35, are due to square off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 26 April. The fight is set to take place two-and-a-half years after it was initially due; in October 2022, it collapsed on short notice upon the revelation that Benn had failed two drug tests. He was subsequently banned from boxing in Britain and was only cleared recently.
In 2023, the WBC said “elevated consumption of eggs” was a “reasonable explanation” for Benn’s adverse findings. That was the source of Eubank Jr’s stunt on Tuesday.
When Benn and Eubank Jr collide in April, they will be fighting more than 30 years after their fathers last clashed. In 1990, Chris Eubank Sr beat Nigel Benn, before the Britons fought to a draw in 1993.
