Legacy on the Line
7,716 days from the beginning of British boxing’s greatest rivalry, the next generation Chris Eubank Jr. (32-2, 23KO) and Conor Benn (21-0, 14KO) are about to pick up where their fathers left off nearly 32 years ago.
Four decades on, the sons will clash in a trilogy fight between the families, on October 8, 2022, at the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena in London, live on DAZN Box Office.
There are no titles on the line in this historic headliner, but there is family pride and legacy at stake.
Neither one are in the same league as their fathers, yet, but you have to put respect on their names for emerging from their shadows to reignite this 30-year war.
Although not as talented as their dads, they share certain similarities with their patriarchs – Eubank Jr. carries the same arrogance as Senior, and Connor shows the same spite as ‘The Dark Destroyer’, a moniker he has transposed to ‘The Destroyer’ for himself.
Under Tony Sims, 26 year old Conor Benn has progressed from an average prospect to a world level fighter. His amateur career took place in Australia where he won 20 from 22 fights, performing in front of small crowds of only 20 spectators in bingo halls, admitting himself that boxing was not a big sport Down Under like it is in England.
Eubank Jr. hung up has vest with a very similar record of 24-2, also abroad, but against much higher quality. He won the Golden Gloves in Nevada, then the Western States between 2007-2008. In the UK, he won the prestigious Haringey Box Cup.
Matchroom Boxing’s Benn has progressed remarkably well from fight to fight and has developed into a real force at world level, currently ranked in the top five with all the governing bodies (No.6 with the IBO).
Early in his career, not many would have predicted he would make it this far, and even now there’s a lot of sceptics who don’t believe he will cut it at the very top, but the heavily tattooed pugilist keeps on proving his doubters wrong with increasingly improved performances.
It’s been the exact opposite for Eubank Jr., who began his career as a hot prospect and was prophesised by his father, early on his career, to become even better than Floyd Mayweather, but was disastrously wrong.
During the 33 year old's only two defeats against world champions Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves, he was outboxed by higher skilled and experienced fighters, but he gave one hell of a fight to both his conquerors. Although he can be outboxed, he definitely can’t be beaten easily.
Since teaming up with the legendary Roy Jones Jr., he has looked like a very different fighter; no longer wild and crude like he was against Groves, but far more measured, composed, poised and accurate. Economical too; he used to swing wildly, and angrily, at thin air, but now he makes every punch count.
Only nine opponents have made it to the final bell against Eubank, but in his last fight against Welshman Liam Williams, Chris had the world title contender down in four of the 12 rounds yet failed to finish him off, or more accurately he let him off the hook, seemingly content to go the full 12 rounds rather than close the show early. If he scores a knockdown against Benn, will he let him off the hook too?
Whereas Benn has been prolific in his last two bouts, knocking out Chris van Heerden within four minutes and then there was that stunningly quick combo to KO Chris Algieri out cold in four, which was probably his greatest moment in a boxing ring so far.
In his last fight, against Heerden, he was tagged cleanly a lot of times as he came in aggressively and far too recklessly in search of the quick finish. He seemed content to take a shot to land a shot, but could you imagine taking that many clean punches from either of the welterweight world champions, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence? He has been sparring top middleweights and super-middles in his gym, but how will he react when he takes a clean punch from a fully-fledged middleweight with eight-ounce gloves on? He's been down before as a pro, so that's one of the questions the public await to see the answer to.
Conor Benn was the one that called for this fight, despite having many options at 147lbs, especially the chance to face the European champion, David Avanesyan, which is a fight that fans have been calling for, for some time now.
Did Benn look at the names above him – David Avanesyan; Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis; Vergil Ortiz; Keith Thurman – and think his chances of victory were looking lean, so chose a big-money match where, even if he loses, his credibility and world rankings will remain intact?
However, the biggest question is how will Chris cope with the catchweight clause? He has said during interviews that he’s not sure exactly how he will make the weight and also suggested he won’t be at his strongest having sacrificed so many pounds to make the fight happen. Although this could just be part of his plan that includes posting videos of himself eating burgers and tomahawk steaks just before fight week. Despite having to pay a fine of $100,000 for every pound missed on the scales, it’s been widely reported that he plans to come in heavier at 158lbs and not the agreed 157lbs limit.
Betting Odds
Middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. is predictably the favourite at 4/9 with Betway, while the smaller welterweight, Conor Benn, is 9/5 to win which would even up the score for his father, Nigel, who has a defeat and draw on his record to Eubank Sr. The odds for the draw are remarkably low at 14/1, whih suggests many are torn between the two.
Predictions
There are no titles at stake in this Eubank-Benn trilogy, but there is legacy on the line as each of the sons aspires to honour their famous fighting fathers. Because of the history and bad blood between the families, both these men will go down down fighting, the pride at stake has never been higher, so whichever the outcome, the fallen will be going out on their shield.
We’ve seen Eubank Jr. lose to skilful fighters already, one of those was George Groves who hit Chris with some heavy shots. Eubank was bleeding from a cut on his right eye and breathing heavily, but the big super-middleweight couldn’t stop his aggressive advances which lasted the full 12 rounds. With this in mind, how could a welterweight that’s filled out another 10lbs do any more damage than a hard hitting, fully fledged super-middle? It’s difficult to back Benn to win via stoppage.
So, could Benn win on points? Perhaps faster and sharper, Benn could score his shots and get out of harm’s way in time to rack up the rounds to win on points, but consistently doing this over the course of 36 minutes is a hard ask. When you factor in that he’s three inches shorter than Eubank and gives away five inches in reach, it’s an even bigger ask to land without being landed on. A good perfromance from Benn, with higher output and punches landed, could see him push this all the way to the distance for a very close decision.
Benn does get caught quite a lot, so if this fight lasts the distance, then Eubank should be the one to score the more eyecatching, clean, more damaging shots to impress the judges.
Personally, I think this fight ends with the bigger man stopping the smaller welterweight. It’s difficult to tell when this will happen until we see how Benn starts. Will he be as aggressive as his last few fights? Because that fighting fury will be too hasty and reckless to work against CBE. Or will it be a far more cautious, calculated approach knowing the size and calibre of his 22nd opponent? Whatever happens, I think Benn will have quite a few rounds in him because he has proven his heart before.
If Eubank scores an early knockdown, I foresee it being more of a flash knockdown than a fight-ending punch connecting, like in the Williams fight recently. It's possible there could be a few flash knockdowns during the fight, which Benn should get back to his feet from, his pride bruised more than anything else.
Some have questioned whether it could be a Hagler-Hearns shootout, but I'm not sure Eubank would play into that kind of frantic, frenzied, all-out war fight. He has done before, against Groves for example, but Jones Jr. has transformed him since then.
I predict the bigger middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. will most likely stop the smaller welterweight Conor Benn after six rounds.
