Chris Eubank Jnr’s manager has stated that his fighter is only interested in a rematch with Conor Benn as his next bout.
The pair battled it out at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in April in an entertaining contest that saw Eubank Jnr’s hand raised via unanimous decision. The fight was a gigantic occasion for British boxing, after their fathers, Chris Eubank Snr and Nigel Benn, engaged in two famous battles back in the 1990s.
Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn lived up to the pressure placed on them going into the contest and delivered a barnburner, leaving fans hungry for more. The pair had signed a two-fight deal prior to the contest and it was announced by Turki Alalshikh earlier this month that the rematch would take place on September 20 in London.
Eubank Jnr has been pretty quiet since the announcement, leaving fans to question if the proposed rematch was going ahead. Furthermore, Conor Benn recently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and stated that he believes Eubank Jnr’s team were stalling and that they did not want to participate in the rematch. Eubank Jnr’s manager Napper Amoakoh revealed that is not the case.
“Yeah, we're still sorting out some small logistics, but it's a fight Chris [Eubank Jnr] wants next,” Amoakoh told BoxingScene. “He's not trying to do no other fight. Conor Benn's a fight he wants. He wants to do part two, just like his dad and Conor's dad did and nothing has changed.
“Eubank Jnr is all in on it. There's no other fight that he wants. In terms of how quick that the lawyers are going to go over the small things in the contract and whatnot, we don't know. Ideally, ASAP.”
Amoakoh was then asked what is holding up the fight after Benn’s side has said that the terms for the rematch are the same as their first contest. Eubank Jnr was contracted to weigh-in on fight day under 170lbs – 10lbs more than the middleweight limit.
“Listen, a fight of this magnitude, the contract's massive,” Amoakoh said. “There's a lot of things we want to go over. So there's just a few minor things that Chris didn't like last time, he wants to fix this time. The fine details of it, I can't really say at the moment because it's lawyer to lawyer conversation, but we're just waiting for updates from the lawyer to let us know that everything we want is good to go.
“They announced the date, they didn't announce the venue, so that's why the lawyers are speaking right now and we're just waiting for them to tell us what is the crack. So yeah, as soon as we know, we'll let the public know.”
Benn had also claimed to Ariel Helwani on Monday that Eubank Jnr had 24 hours to accept the rematch or his team were moving on. He also talked up a fight with Shakur Stevenson who also appeared alongside him on the talk show.
“Yeah, listen, there's been no deadline,” Amoakoh revealed. “Eddie [Hearn] is just doing his job as Conor Benn's promoter, just making his interviews a bit more interesting or making it seem like he's applying pressure and, you know, he's a great promoter, he's doing a good job. But he hasn't given no … Well, listen, I ain't got no text or email saying no deadline, nor has Chris [Eubank Jnr], nor has anyone else in our team. So I don't know about any deadline.
“If he walks away from this fight, then he must have some other options for less money, so he wouldn't be as smart as he looks,” he continued. “So I don't think … he doesn't look like a silly guy or someone that doesn't have intelligence. To me, he looks like a smart guy and if he wants to use his brain in terms of what's the best fight for him out there next, it's Chris. So just let the things that need to be sorted, let it sort itself out, and then let's get this show on the road.”
