After losing to Conor Benn via the widest of margins on the scorecards, and barely seeing out the rematch when he was twice dropped heavily in the closing stages, Chris Eubank Jnr understandably cut a solemn figure when he addressed the media in the aftermath.
Now 36, Eubank Jnr looked slow and off the pace from the start. Back in April, only seven months ago, he hurled just shy of 1,000 punches en route to a unanimous decision victory. Saturday, at the same Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and facing the same man, he could only muster 365 of which more than 80 per cent were off target.
“I thought I could use my boxing skills, that you saw I used to beat Conor Benn in that first fight, but from the first round I realised I was mistaken,” Eubank said as he tried to process his stark drop in form. “But it’s alright. Hey, I’m a fighter, this is what I do. Regardless of the dangers and the risks we go to war, that’s what we do. I’m alright.
“Conor Benn put on a hell of a performance. He did everything that was asked of him, and I congratulate him for his performance tonight.”
Inside the ring, Eubank looked weak. His legs had no bounce. His punches had no snap. His instinct was to hold when he's long been known for fighting back. He was 159lbs at the official weigh-in, five pounds less than what he weighed when he made his debut, as a 22-year-old, in 2011.
“You saw what I was in there tonight,” he said. “I thought once those bright lights hit and I was in there I would find something – and I tried, I tried hard. It wasn’t there. Conor was fast and he was strong and he was tough. Congratulations to him.”
Eubank, 35-4 (25 KOs), displayed all the signs of a ‘shot’ fighter such was his depleted output and diminished resistance. He refused to admit that nor call time on his career. In the ring he suggested there were problems in his life that attributed further to his lacklustre showing.
“Right now I’m not in the state of mind to be thinking about next fights. I need to deal with what I’m dealing with. After that, I can start thinking about my path in the sport.
“I’m alive, I’m happy and I’m fighter. I get to do what I love every day, regardless of the trials and tribulations. I’m still fulfilled in life. I’m good, I’m okay.”
As for the rivalry with Benn, which is currently tied at 1-1, Eubank Jnr expressed little interest in a decider. Instead, he suggested that the supposed grudge between the two sons of 1990’s rivals was over.
“He gained my respect in the first fight. You share a ring with a man for 12 rounds – or 24 rounds now – of course you have that respect for them.
“I told him [afterwards] we done something that no one has ever done before and what no one is ever going to do again. He should be proud.
“This is not about me, this night is about Conor, he did what he needed to do to win. I’m not here to talk about me. He is a tough man, he’s a great fighter, and I respect him.”
