Conor Benn had vowed that his next fight would be at 147lbs.
The Essex man said he would defeat Chris Eubank Jnr decisively and retreat to welterweight waters in search of glory rather than the riches he’s now bagged from two fights with his rival at middleweight.
And after an emphatic victory on the scorecards over Eubank Jnr tonight at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Benn said he would like to fight Mario Barrios for the WBC title at 147lbs, or that he would be open to bouts with Devin Haney, Rolly Romero and Ryan Garcia.
And although he is now 1-1 with Eubank, there will surely be no calls for a trilogy fight given the sad spectacle of a forlorn Eubank Jnr traipsing naively around the ring on fumes, unable to stay out of danger and unable to throw anything with spite or venom.
Eubank, dropped twice in the 12th round, had been routed in a fight he had never been in.
“It’s been some journey, and I feel like this is the end of the Benn-Eubank saga,” said a joyous Benn.
“Everyone saying I can’t box, put that in your pipe and smoke it. This wouldn’t have been what it was without Chris and without our dads. Credit to Chris. Thank you for sharing a ring with me.”
Their first fight in April, fought through a bristling mutual dislike and a heavy haze of contempt and an even heavier dose of nostalgia, was one of the most bitterly contested bouts of the year. It was one of those events that lived up to hype that many would contest it didn’t merit. Of course, Eubank and Benn should have boxed in October 2022, and while Benn’s positive tests for clomifene scuppered that date at the last minute, the feud simmered. Their pairing was merely on ice, not shelved. It was inevitable. So, too, was the rematch. After such a pulsating battle earlier this year, the money was in a return. Yes, Benn surely would have had lucrative options at 147lbs and Eubank would have at 160lbs. But the real money, the generational wealth, lay in this rematch of second-generation stars.
For it was the first fight between their fathers at the Birmingham NEC in 1990 that set the table for this. Chris Eubank Snr stopped Nigel Benn in nine of the most brutal rounds you will see. It was so good that, of course, they had to do it again, and they did in 1993 with Benn earning a draw this time.
Unbelievably, the grudge continued for decades, through different TV shows, at different speaking engagements, but as the years went by the scorn was replaced by a survivor’s camaraderie. They had shared 21 often spectacular rounds, but they had survived boxing intact, unlike their ring victims Michael Watson and Gerald McClellan. Yes, both Eubank Snr and Benn had been damaged, but they were comparatively unscathed in comparison to some in that wildly-talented, deep and treacherous era of bone-crunching punchers and iron-jawed elite talents that they left behind.
They bookmarked an era of British boxing history, and as a consequence both Eubank Snr and Benn find themselves on the ballot of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, knocking on the door for an admission at Canastota that some would contend is overdue.
Their respective sons won’t be troubling those tasked with voting fighters in a few years from now, but that’s not to detract from what they have done together and in no means said to diminish the chemistry they clearly share.
But they have beaten the bad blood that so visibly seethed beforehand out of one another.
Of course, there will always be pride to fight for, but relations have thawed to far more respectful levels now. And they have made one another very wealthy men, adding to one another’s fame and celebrity to the extent the movie producer Guy Ritchie was ringside, along with actors Jason Statham and Pierce Brosnan, soccer star Thierry Henry, singers Rod Stewart and Emma Bunton and a host of other invited guests. Boxing royalty was represented by Terence Crawford.
What they saw came nowhere near replicating that wild spring night.
Benn, now 24-1 (14 KOs), started well and never let up. Eubank Jnr, 35-4 (25 KOs) didn’t even start. The 36-year-old is worn down and Benn, seven years younger, is only just getting started.
You see, he’d only gone the 12-round distance once before April. Eubank, in going 12 six previous times, had gone to decisions against top fighters like Billy Joe Saunders, Dmitry Chudinov, Arthur Abraham, George Groves, James DeGale, and Liam Williams.
Benn’s only previous 12 – Eubank aside – was against Peter Dobson.
But there was nothing but confidence on Benn’s face as he made his way to the ring flanked by his dad, promoter Eddie Hearn and trainer Tony Sims.
Eubank, wearing a white fur robe and with his pops in tow, was rapped to the ring by 50 Cent.
The entrances were extraordinary. It was boxing at its most elaborate and showbiz.
After a couple of lengthy staredowns with both boxers in the ring, including for the instructions of referee Kevin Parker, Benn was buoyant but he was not a blurring whirlwind to start with, although he landed a right hand early, deposited another to the body as Eubank tried to get his jab pumping.
It was a tight round. Both feinted, looking to make room for their bigger shots, but neither were biting heavily on what the other might do.
There were signs, however, that Eubank wanted to make the fight one that would be fought at medium and long range, and not in the trenches they had previously occupied.
Benn landed a couple of shots early in the second and as Eubank moved forward, Benn was bundled to the canvas and referee Parker told them both to tidy up their work. Benn continued to invest in the body, Eubank was trying to work his left and he tried to claim Benn when he closed the gap.
Benn stepped in with his own jab to the head and body in the third and he tried to tease Eubank onto his right hand. Eubank’s start was slow and passive. To make sure he did not face the same financial penalty as he did last time, when he had to pay what was believed to be around $500,000 for coming in a fraction heavy, had Eubank stripped weight too severely by coming in a 159.1lbs? Benn, marginally heavier at Friday’s weigh-in, landed a sweeping left hook and a right uppercut in close, and Eubank’s success was limited.
Both fighters had alluded to a more thoughtful and strategic approach this time and that is what it was, but Eubank wasn’t firing and it looked like he was struggling to pull the trigger. In fact, he couldn't even find it.
His right-hand counters were cumbersome and Eubank nodded as if to say ‘good shot’ a couple of times when Benn landed. Eubank, meanwhile, was often punching out of range. Benn’s defensive work was sound, however, retreating underneath counters and not tracking back in straight lines.
As good as Benn was, Eubank was poor. He was sluggish and flat. He had no rhythm and even less success. On commentary, Barry Jones speculated that Eubank might have had “one fight too many.”
That was fair.
The Brighton man looked flat-footed and it seemed there was no power in his shots.
Beforehand, those who figured Benn would win thought either the 36-year-old Eubank’s age or the damage sustained in the first fight could contribute to his demise. In truth, it looked like both.
Going into the sixth and Eubank had failed to launch. He lashed a right hand that merely bounced off Benn’s head. He forlornly fell to the canvas after one exchange and there was a disinterested look on his face.
A hushed silence fell upon the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They came for fireworks and they were not getting them although near the end of the seventh Benn clattered Eubank by the ropes and while Eubank spat back defiantly it was again clearly his rival's round.
Eubank Snr, so often before their estrangement, had been vocal in the corner, but he solemnly looked on in the eighth as his son was being comprehensively outworked and outboxed. Eubank was a mile behind and it didn’t look as though he possessed the firepower to turn things around or the engine and durability to fight any other way. Sure, in the eighth he slugged Benn with a couple of rights before the bell, but it was Benn’s session again.
“How are you feeling?” coach BoMac asked Eubank in the corner.
“Like shit,” Eubank seemed to say.
Eubank was like a ghost. He was borderline a sitting duck and Benn battered him with a right hand to open the ninth.
As much as this bout was dubbed a cynical cash grab between a welterweight and a middleweight, it was by the ninth sad to watch. Eubank was stripped of just about everything but his courage and dignity. Whether it was time, weight or both, his offense and his legs and been left in the same ring in April.
Maybe Benn was right in that he had taken a part of Eubank’s soul.
It was reminiscent of Eubank Jnr’s landslide win over a faded James DeGale six years ago.
Benn was faultless, it is worth adding. He was faster, more ambitious, more willing and certainly far fresher. You could argue he could have done more and ramped up the pressure on his rival, but there was no need to gamble when he was doing what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted to do it.
Eubank was trapped in a dream, often looking at the big screen – likely to check how much longer was left in each round – willing for the clock to expire so he could retreat to Dubai, count his fortune and spend time with the twin boys he is expecting.
There were whistles and boos in the 10th and the 11th. Eubank was spun to the canvas, quite effortlessly, from one clinch in the penultimate round.
“This is the round of your life,” Eubank was urged in the corner before the final session.
But it just wasn’t there. There were no bullets in the chamber.
As with the second fight between their fathers, the second bout did not deliver the heroics or the action of the first bout, and as with their fathers, there is unlikely to be a trilogy. No one needs to see it again.
With less than a minute to go in the final Benn-Eubank round, Benn landed a right hand high on the side of Eubank’s head and April’s winner crashed dramatically to the canvas. He rose with those sad, deadpan eyes, more vacant than they have ever been, and Benn steamed in to finish the job. Eubank collapsed once more from another heavy knockdown, springing up before the bell. Eubank, as the hopelessness descended upon him, appeared to ask the referee how much time was left. Then the bell sounded. His time had gone.
It was Benn’s night. It was the first Benn victory in the families’ storied rivalry.
Benn’s team were understandably jubilant but it had been a slow, painful burn. He put Eubank in the kettle early and turned up the heat and a heavily depleted Eubank could not escape. It came to the boil with the two knockdowns in the final round.
The fighters exchanged an embrace and what you have to assume were pleasantries immediately afterwards and Michael Buffer read the scorecards to confirm Benn had won by margins of 119-107, 116-110, and 118-108. They could have been far wider and Eubank applauded the winner throughout the announcement.
Eubank, in the end, seemed happy the whole thing was over. “I’ve been through hell and back to get to this night and it is what it is. I tried my best and listen, the kid fought hard, he fought tough, he was bigger than me on the scales… We put on a show and Conor Benn was the best man tonight. Congratulations. I’ve got to go away and deal with some of the things I’ve been dealing with the last couple of months. But it’s his night.”
