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Tony Bellew believes Chris Eubank Jr’s ‘egg slap’ on Conor Benn was carefully planned, after the viral moment saw Tuesday’s press conference descend into chaos.
Eubank Jr and Benn will square off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 26 April, two-and-a-half years after they were first due to box, with Benn’s drug-test saga having delayed the bout.
The fight was scrapped on short notice in October 2022, after it was revealed that Benn had failed two drug tests. And with the 28-year-old subsequently banned from boxing in Britain, the bout was only reorganised recently, when Benn was finally cleared.
A press conference on Tuesday ended with Eubank Jr slapping an egg in Benn’s face, a reference to the WBC’s claim in 2023 that “elevated consumption of eggs” was a “reasonable excuse” for Benn’s adverse findings. Chaos ensued in Manchester, where security guards held back Benn and Eubank Jr, 35.
“[Eubank Jr] knew he was doing that,” former world champion Bellew told DAZN. “What he’s done is, he’s leaned in first to just gauge the distance of how he could slap him and then move off, because he didn’t want a counter.
“He knew he was doing that, you could tell. The minute he leaned in and wanted to listen to Conor, he slapped him on the way back. I was watching, because I was trying [to figure out]: ‘Why has he gotten that close to him to listen to him?’
“He’s gone here, and as he’s gone back: ‘boom.’ It’s a slap.” Watching a replay, Bellew added: “There’s the lean-in that I talked about, there’s the next lean-in, now watch as he comes back out. See, there you go. It’s more of a push than a slap.
“It’s one of them: ‘Go on, boy, move on.’ [For Benn], it’s like: ‘I fell for that.’ […] Listen, it’s all fun and games. That’s gonna really wind Conor up.”
Eubank Jr later shared a photo on his Instagram story, showing several eggs stored in one of his jacket pockets.
After Benn was slapped on stage, his father Nigel grabbed Eubank Jr by the neck, while Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn shoved his counterpart Ben Shalom. Shalom denied any prior knowledge that Eubank Jr would pull the stunt.
Eubank Jr vs Benn will take place more than 30 years after their fathers last fought. In 1990, Chris Eubank Sr beat Nigel Benn, before they fought to a draw in 1993.
