Chris Eubank Senior took to the stage alongside his son for the final press conference ahead of Chris Eubank Junior’s rematch with Conor Benn.
Eubank Jr and his father mended a long-standing rift before his first fight with Benn that led to an iconic ring entrance and a memorable 12-round scrap.
Eubank Sr hadn’t appeared at any pre-fight events ahead of the first fight, but took a seat to support his son before Saturday’s rematch.
Eubank Sr said: “I’m here for heart, love.”
The former world champion is a British boxing legend and known for his eccentric character. “I’ve always walked the straight line,” he said. “I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.”
Nigel Benn, Conor’s father, had a ferocious rivalry with Eubank Sr during their own fighting days. He was in little mood to indulge Eubank Sr.
“I don’t pay any attention to what he says,” Benn Sr said. “We’re here to talk about a fight.
“We’ve had our past, it’s about Conor and Junior,” he maintained. “I’m here to support my son. I’ve watched my son train hard.
“We’ll be victorious early doors.”
Eubank Jr of course intends to repeat his victory in the first fight, promising, in an echo of his father’s famous phrase: “The procedure will be parliamentary.”
Famous fathers and feuding sons
The fighters’ feud dates back to the rivalry of their fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr.
But there’s no shortage of enmity between the sons themselves. They were originally due to box in 2022 at a catchweight, only for Benn to return an anti-doping violation which saw the original bout cancelled.
When Benn was cleared to box in the UK, the fight was eventually made for April of this year, this time at 160lbs, with a fight-day weight limit, and now a rematch will take place this Saturday.
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At the announcement press conference ahead of that first clash, Eubank struck Benn with an egg. That attack was to goad his opponent and also a reference to a claim by the WBC that Benn’s positive drug test could have been due to excessive consumption of eggs, a suggestion which Benn would later distance himself from.
The build-up to their first fight centred round Eubank Jr’s fractured relationship with his father, that he spoke about with such frankness it stunned a press conference into silence.
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Throwback to when Chris Eubank Jr and his father made an epic ring walk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium complete with an orchestra!
That rift was memorably healed when Eubank Sr unexpectedly appeared at his son’s side at the stadium and made an epic ringwalk alongside him.
Benn was getting ready in his changing room at the Tottenham Hotspur ground when he saw Eubank father and son arrive together.
“It was a complete surprise. I assure you now I would have bet money on him not turning up. Him turning up made it. I always said I wanted him there, I wanted him involved,” Benn told Sky Sports.
“Him turning up like that, only one man could have turned up like that, and it wasn’t my dad. As much as it pains me to say.”
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Speaking ahead of their rematch at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Conor Benn claimed there was no gameplan in place for the first fight and has vowed to avenge the defeat handed to him by Chris Eubank Jr.
But he insists it didn’t rattle him going into the fight a couple of hours later. “I’m sitting there going there’s no way that’s going to end well for Junior. That’s what my initial thoughts were, this isn’t going to end well for him,” Benn said.
“When you’ve got two alpha males with big egos and a big presence come in a room together, it’s a car crash. It is a car crash, I’m telling you from experience, it’s a car crash.”
Eubank went on to win an intense fight on points but maintains that, reunited with his father, he is in a better place going into this second contest.
“Me not having to deal with the burden of my father being so publicly against me fighting. That was a massive mental distraction for me,” Eubank Jr told Sky Sports News.
“So for me to not have that on my plate is amazing. And to know that he’s going to be there is a great feeling.”
Benn is adamant that he won’t take the rematch personally, unlike the first fight.
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Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn shared an intense face-off ahead of their rematch in November.
“The insults are part of the game. It’s the entertainment business,” he told Sky Sports. “Egg slap, no problem, it sold the fight.
“[Being called a] ‘drug cheat’… No problem, you’ve got to understand that’s just part of the game.
“I just don’t like him,” Benn added. “It’s not what’s said, it’s not what’s done. I just don’t like him.”
Eubank though intends to finish the job he started. “The fight went 12 rounds, there are still people who believe Conor Benn was robbed and should have won,” he said.
“There is still that talk from a very small percentage of people and my unfinished business is to eradicate that completely with a convincing, undeniable domination.”
