One of British boxing’s greats, Joe Calzaghe, hopes Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn can muster fireworks similar to the type that they delivered in April.
The sons of Calzaghe’s fellow British boxing greats - Chris Eubank Snr and Nigel Benn - meet again on Saturday at the scene of their first fight, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Eubank 1-0 up following their wild 12-round brawl.
“Their fathers are legends, right?” Calzaghe told BoxingScene. “So I got why they were fighting, but I honestly thought it was just the difference in size [with Eubank being a middleweight and Benn being a welterweight]…. I was not excited to watch the fight. I was actually working that night and I stayed to watch the fight and I watched the first round and I thought, ‘Oh God, this is going to be interesting.’ And I was more than pleasantly surprised that it was, it turned out to be a great fight. I just thought that the size difference would be a bigger issue, but I think Conor shook, wobbled Eubank a little bit in the early rounds.
“I’m not sure what round it was. I thought, ‘Oh, this is it, we’re on to something.’ It was a really good fight and they deserved a rematch, a big-money rematch.”
Almost immediately after the final bell, talk of the rematch began to swirl, by which point Calzaghe was invested.
“It was great theatre, it was great to see, Senior turning up on the night [to support Junior], and seeing them all [fathers and sons] together in the ring and after the 12 rounds, beating themselves up and beating each other up, giving each other a hug, that’s always a beautiful thing with boxing. They both done their dads proud that night and they deserve a rematch. Whether the rematch is going to be as explosive as the first one, I’d be surprised, but hopefully. It was a good fight.”
Calzaghe had only one rematch in his career; he stopped German Mario Veit in both of their bouts. The Hall of Fame two-division champion revealed that there was a return clause in his fight with Jeff Lacy, but he’d defeated the American so emphatically that it was null and void.
Calzaghe scored arguably his breakthrough career win against Chris Eubank Snr.
Nigel Benn often heralds Calzaghe as Britain’s finest fighter.
Now Calzaghe has two grown-up sons – and a baby son – but he watched the fight as a fan rather than as a father.
“I was hoping just for a good fight,” the Welshman said. “I’d be honest, their fathers being who they are, that was why the fight was made. I see that they had the needle [grudge] with each other. I didn’t really look too much into it, but after the first couple of rounds, I realized that these guys are quite evenly matched and it’s going to be a great fight and as a boxing fan, I stayed around and watched the 12 rounds and I was pleasantly surprised what a great fight it was. They both got hurt, that’s the sport, but they made a load of money from it, got a lot of mutual respect from it and let’s hope, it’s a good fight and they both come through okay.”
Joe Calazaghe was speaking ahead of his exclusive appearance at Paddy’s Sportsbook at The Hippodrome Casino for Eubank Jnr vs. Benn II on November 15.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
