Products You May Like
What if I told you that getting slapped in the face with an egg was not the worst part of Conor Benn’s day? No, the worst moment might have been when he threatened a journalist, saying: “If somebody starts asking me trick questions, I’ll throw you out the room, do you hear me? I’ll drag you by the neck outside.” Thankfully, Benn later apologised and gave the journalist a hug – “a cuddle”, which was begrudgingly accepted.
Tensions were high (you might have gathered) even before Benn’s press conference with Chris Eubank Jr began. This was the first of two: the Manchester kick-off on Tuesday, before Thursday’s follow-up in London. If the sequel is as chaotic as the original, we might be lucky to get a fight on 26 April, when the Britons are finally due to square off – two-and-a-half years after they were first due to. We might even be lucky to get the second press conference.
You may know the backstory: in October 2022, almost 29 years to the day after Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr finished their bitter rivalry, their sons were set to clash. However, the unbeaten Benn had failed two drug tests, a revelation that arose just a few days before the fight. It was called off, and Benn’s integrity was called into question. He was banned from boxing in Britain until recently, and his reputation has never fully recovered.
As a result, necessary questions about how he was eventually cleared were asked during a group interview on Tuesday – with Benn, his father, and his promoter Eddie Hearn joining a handful of journalists in an upstairs room in Manchester Central Convention Complex. Benn did not like these questions, nor did Hearn. “I have been cleared three times,” was Benn’s chief retort. There were more than 20 other bodies in the room, most of whom stood silently and nervously as this all occurred, including while threats were made.
This scene played out before the press conference itself, which began unusually and continued as such.
Eubank Jr, 35, was antagonistic from the off, interrupting legendary MC Michael Buffer to say that he and Benn should be sat closer together – not separated by their respective promoters, Ben Shalom and Hearn. The latter tried to maintain order, only to be told by Eubank Jr: “We’re gonna skip past whatever bulls*** you were going to say.”
“I think I’m more popular than you,” Hearn hit back, to laughter from some fans. “Conor Benn, how we feeling about smashing this geezer to pieces on 26 April?” Benn, 28, jibed: “His dad don’t even like him, you could not pay that man enough money to sit in [his son’s] corner.” It was sniping at a sad reality, with Eubank Jr and Sr having grown apart in recent years.
Eubank Jr’s turn again. “For the first time in boxing history, in a mega-fight, there are two bad guys,” he philosophised. “One of us has accepted his fate; I gave up on my dreams of being a hero a long time ago. I’m a veteran at this stage, a super-villain.” His evil plan hinged upon a yolky weapon hidden in his pocket, it turned out.
Then host Ade Oladipo took a phone call from Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi adviser behind the Kingdom’s aggressive entry into boxing. Oladipo put Alalshikh on loudspeaker, holding his phone to the mic, not realising that the adviser’s number was being captured on various live-stream feeds.
Hearn and Eubank Jr debated the rehydration clause (Benn is moving from 147lb to 160lb). There will be a 170lb limit for the fight-day weigh-in, which Hearn said was in line with the IBF’s rules, except the IBF’s limit recently changed to 12lb – which Eubank Jr pointed out, claiming Hearn was misleading the public.
Hearn and Shalom debated the rematch clause. “That guy to your right, who I quite like now to be honest, he got spun around like a little kid in a playground,” Hearn said of Shalom, regarding negotiations. “And every time he spun around, I said: ‘Hello, Ben.’ We were delighted to get 60-40 in our favour [for the purse split].” “Oh, behave, Eddie,” came Shalom’s agitated reply.
Then came the briefest moment of sincerity, courtesy of Nigel Benn. “I thank God for having Chris [Sr] in my life,” he said. He apologised for everything he said about Eubank Sr in the past… only to add, “but retribution is coming your way, [Jr]. [Conor] is gonna hit you with so many lefts, you’re gonna be praying for a right. He’s gonna hit you so many times, you’re gonna think you’re surrounded.”
It was a clever quip, and the younger Benn and Eubank Jr produced admittedly humorous moments, too. After the latter questioned how his opponent was “cleared” after “literally p***ing away” his career, Benn replied: “You will never be cleared of being a w****r.”
Eubank Jr even turned against Oladipo, calling him out for misnaming his coach Ronnie Davies as “Ronnie Shields”. But then Eubank Jr turned against Davies himself, criticising the trainer for saying Jr will be “too big” for Benn; Eubank Jr had already stressed that he was fed up with claims about his size – insisting that his “skills” will win him the bout. Still, Davies meant well, and as an older head – like Nigel – he offered sincerity as well: “I’ve been with [Jr] since he was born. A lot of people don’t know what he is; I do.” Davies also coached Sr, back in the day.
But Eubank Jr’s words would prove the most important, as he hinted at the chaos to come: “Conor, I have been meaning to ask you, how many eggs did you have to eat to fail those drug tests?” The IBO champion was referring to the WBC’s claim in 2023 that “elevated consumption of eggs” was a “reasonable explanation” for Benn’s adverse drug-test findings.
A tense face-off looked like it might pass without blows being traded, only for Eubank Jr to crack an egg in Benn’s face. Security held back each boxer. Benn screamed: “Get off me!!!” It was farcical. To some, it was funny. But if this fight goes ahead, there will be nothing to laugh about. This is a different, dangerous rivalry. And if it was contrived in 2022, it is not anymore. Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn hate each other.