The O2 Arena in London takes centre stage, again, as the legendary battle that was fought between fathers has now been re-ignited by their sons.
Sparking the family feud back into life, Chris Eubank Jr faces up against Conor Benn at a catchweight limit of 157lbs.
The weight isn’t either fighter’s natural size, with Eubank Jr the much bigger man – usually fighting at 168lbs before dropping down to 160lbs in his last outing against Liam Williams.
Benn, on the other hand, will be making a 10lbs jump from his natural fighting weight of 147lbs.
Ready for fight night?! Here’s how each career has led up to this point.
History Revisited
Chris Eubank Snr and Nigel Benn shared the ring twice back in the early ‘90s. As the bitter rivalry drew huge crowds and vast media hype towards the first fight on 18th November 1990, all eyes were on the pair as they stepped into the ring at National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
With little action in the opening rounds, Nigel Benn made the first mark of the fight with a right uppercut that caused Eubank Snr to bite his tongue.
Benn, the then WBO World Middleweight champ, knocked his opponent down in the eighth and ninth rounds, but a huge comeback from Eubank Snr put the pressure back on the defending champion, forcing the ref to stop the fight before the bell sounded for the end of the ninth.
Just under three years later, the pair met once again, this time at Super Middleweight as they both held a world title in the division.
Now with more to gain for both fighters, they stepped through the ring at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United.
The bout failed to reach the dizzying heights of the first, although the headline moment saw Benn knocked through the ropes but without any serious damage.
This time around, neither fighter had done enough to take both titles home, resulting in a draw.
Eubank Jr’s Experience
Fighting at a similar weight to his dad, Eubank Jr has a current record of 32 wins against 2 losses. Knocking out his opponent 23 times along the way, the Brighton-born boxer has some seriously impressive names on his resumé.
Having rebuilt his name after an early to defeat to Billy Joe Saunders, he came back to win the IBO World Super Middleweight title against Australian Renold Quinlan.
He backed this up with defences against Arthur Abraham and Avni Yildirim. As his name was back in the spotlight once more, he took on George Groves in a grudge match at the Manchester Arena.
After a bitterly disappointing loss to Groves, he went back to the drawing board to reclaim his IBO belt against another Brit, this time in the form of James DeGale.
With four more wins since then, he last fought back in February, knocking Williams down on numerous occasions for his most dominant performance to date.
Bulldozing Benn
While Eubank Jr has been tested at the top across several years, Conor Benn is yet to make the step up in quality.
At 26 years old, ‘The Destroyer’ is 6 years younger than his counterpart, and is undefeated in his first 21 fights as a professional.
Having won by knockout 14 times, his power is his obvious strength. Pair that with a relentless determination from the gym to the ring, he’s a force to be reckoned with.
Not one to live off his father’s reputation, Conor’s made a name for himself his own way, working with Matchroom Boxing to build his profile from his 2016 debut to today.
Beating the likes of Sebastian Formella and Chris Algieri, his last outing was a TKO over Chris van Heerden in April.
Will the weight cut be too much for Eubank Jr, or will Benn’s power not translate to the greater weight?
With the main event ring walks expected at 10PM, there’s bound to be fireworks…
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