Just because a fight has been announced doesn’t mean that it’s actually going to happen.
That lesson has been learned many times before, and that lesson may be repeated with the rematch between Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn.
Eubank-Benn II was announced on June 29 with a date of September 20, reprising their Fight of the Year candidate from April 26 that Eubank won via unanimous decision.
BoxingScene has been informed by sources that Eubank had not signed as of the day the fight announcement was made.
More than two weeks after the rematch was announced, Benn says there is reason to believe that Eubank is seeking either to pull out or to change the terms of their agreement.
“We had signed for the rematch clause. It was a two-fight deal, period. Same terms,” Benn said in an interview on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.
Benn fought at welterweight until 2022 and then had two bouts within the junior middleweight limit in the United States in 2023 and 2024. That was during the period when Benn was facing a suspension in the U.K. over a positive test for a banned performance-enhancing drug, a punishment Benn was successfully able to overturn on appeal.
The fight with Eubank took place at middleweight. Both men were required to tip the scales no higher than 160lbs, and with a rehydration clause limiting both men to gain no more than 10lbs as of the morning of the fight.
“I’ve heard Eubank doesn’t want the fight. He’s moaning about the weight stipulation,” Benn said.
Benn noted that Eubank’s past five fights have been at middleweight. Eubank’s entire pro career has been within either the middleweight or super middleweight limits.
However, fighters can and do grow out of their weight classes. And it’s also possible that the rehydration clause limited Eubank in a way that he had not been required to experience before.
Much was made of Eubank struggling to make 160lbs for the Benn bout, though Benn derided that as “a good narrative to push.”
At the same time, Benn argues that he was the one at an actual disadvantage because of the weight, even if he didn’t have to struggle before stepping on the scale at 156.5lbs.
“The reality is I’m not 160. I’m not 154,” Benn said. “You gotta remember, when I fought [Rodolfo] Orozco in the USA [in 2023], look at the size of him. I’m not 154. I’m a 147 fighter.”
And yet if there is a disagreement or discontent from Eubank’s team over the contractual terms for the rematch, Benn also admitted: “I don’t know what he is pushing for.
“Whatever it is, I’m not doing it.”
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, speaking to Helwani via phone during Benn’s interview, said Eubank’s side is the holdup.
“We’re waiting,” Hearn said. “These people are so painful. [...] Conor Benn, he’s one of the biggest stars in boxing right now. Everybody wants to fight him. We need an answer, and hopefully that will come in the next 24 hours, so we’re standing by.”
Benn, now 23-1 (14 KOs), not only suffered his first pro defeat but was beaten by a person whom he didn’t like before and still doesn’t like despite the 12 rounds of shared blood and sweat.
“I want to get redemption,” Benn said. “I think he’s scared of that. That was the best Eubank in there. But there’s a lot of mistakes I made. There’s experience gained, lessons learned. There’s wrongs that I can right. There was greed. There was loading up. There was a lot of aggression, a lot of anger.
“I wanted to hurt him. I didn’t stick to the game plan. I didn’t at all. I just wanted to go in there and take his head off. If it does happen next, I'll fight with less heart, less balls, more brains.”
It was a lucrative fight for both men, and the rematch would further pad their bank accounts. Benn appreciates the paydays but also has a second mission in mind: winning a world title.
“For me, I’ve done the big fight; now I just want to tick off some personal goals. But if it makes sense, it makes sense to fight [lightweight titleholder Shakur] Stevenson. If it makes sense, it makes sense to fight Ryan [Garcia], [Devin] Haney. But the personal goal for me is always to win that WBC belt. It’s always, like, a dream of mine, and I feel like I should’ve been WBC world champion years ago. It’s something I want to tick off. But if the big fight arrives, then we can make that instead.”
That would ideally be at welterweight, he said. The WBC world title is being contested this weekend, with Mario Barrios defending against returning retiree Manny Pacquiao.
“If I’m dropping back down to 147, it has to be, I really want it to be the world title,” Benn said. “As soon as I've got that, bucket list done. Not many fighters can say they’ve achieved the world title and the money.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
