13 hours ago
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On a night framed by manufactured rage and genuine vindication, Chris Eubank Jr outpointed Conor Benn in an initially close but ultimately clearcut victory. All three judges returned the same 116-112 scorecard in favour of the bigger, more poised and seasoned fighter who still had to weather some rocky moments when Benn hurt him.
Eubank Jr was wobbled on numerous occasions but Benn, 28, was just too wild to administer conclusive punishment. In contrast, the 35-year-old landed the more effective blows, often in clubbing combinations, and Benn looked on the brink of being stopped in the last minute of the fight. Despite a cut eye and swollen face, Eubank Jr poured on the pressure as he went in search of the knockout.
When his victory was confirmed Eubank Jr sank to his knees in relief and joy – while Benn looked devastated.
It was a frenetic and violent brawl, short of finesse and class. Benn’s limitations were exposed while Eubank Jr suffered from the weight-cut rehydration clause which made him an additional $1m but caused him so many problems this week. They were both exhausted and drained but Eubank Jr matched the younger man for ambition and resolve – and he is the better boxer. He is entitled to enjoy his victory to the full because his gamble paid off. Eubank Jr had backed his knowhow and conviction against a lesser opponent and, more worryingly, the risk he took with his weight.
A few hours earlier the muted hum that had settled over the stadium was replaced by a huge cheer as the big screens lit up with a surprising sight. Chris Eubank Sr stepped out of a suitably fancy car to the delight of a suddenly animated crowd that could not quite believe the old fighter had decided to attend in support of his estranged son. Those cheers then turned into guttural roar as Eubank Jr walked across to greet his father.
No one seemed to care if it was a canny ploy – it looked and felt like a genuine reconciliation.
Five minutes later, the dressing room cameras cut to the sight of Benn in his underwear. Sustained booing filled the arena and escalated when Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, appeared next. The Eubanks, for once, seemed to be the good guys.
Benn came out swinging, wildly, and the pattern was set. He missed more than he landed but his sheer aggression ensured a tight contest. There were plenty of warnings from the referee to both fighters, for their roughhouse tactics, and constant chatter between Eubank Jr and Benn. There were also moments of real drama. Eubank was hurt in the third but, in the next round, he nailed Benn with a shuddering right uppercut. Chants of “Eu-bank … Eu-bank” echoed around the arena but Benn fought back and they went toe-to-toe in a fierce battle.
The scoring was tight but in the eighth round, Eubank Jr began to take over as he slowly began to beat up Benn, who sagged against the ropes. It was even more intense in the ninth as Eubank Jr was cut over his right eye after an accidental clash of heads. He was hurt again in the next stanza but ended it in the ascendancy.
Eubank was three points clear as they started the final round – which he utterly dominated as Benn wilted like a worn rag doll.
Rather than fighting for any titles the two men, who are normally separated by two weight divisions and operate below the elite level of world-class boxing, were put together in a crude money-making scrap built on the exploits of their fathers in the 1990s, cheap talk of family feuds and “bad blood”.
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Despite being the smaller man, Benn had specifically requested an 18-foot ring, rather than the standard 20-foot size, because he believed the truncated space would lead to “a tear-up” and curtail Eubank Jr’s ability to jab and move and rely on his superior boxing skills. Eubank Jr agreed to the request – and his confidence was justified.
Eubank Jr shrugged aside the damaging effects of a perilous rehydration clause, which meant he could add only 10lb to his official weight on the morning of the fight. At least he made the 170lb rehydrated weight limit, which earned him an extra $1m, and compensated for the fact that he had lost exactly half that amount on Friday morning when he was less than an ounce over the stipulated middleweight mark.
The previously undefeated Benn should have spent less time this week celebrating Eubank Jr’s weight tribulations and steeled himself for the biggest test of his modest career in the ring. He was also consumed by the idea that victory would have offered some kind of redemption after he had spent almost 1,000 days in the shadows of infamy following two positive results in two separate drug tests in 2022. But winning a domestic dust-up would not have cleansed the stain from Benn’s reputation.
Eubank Jr will strut around with his typical air of entitlement because, throughout the long and protracted buildup, he has been by far the most impressive man among all those involved in selling this shameless promotion. Eubank Jr has spoken intelligently, amid his own bombast, and been a trenchant critic of Benn and his promoter, Eddie Hearn.
The ring is unforgiving – and it revealed the harsh truth of Benn’s limitations against a decent operator as experienced and savvy as the inimitable Eubank Jr.
