Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn: Big Fight Preview & Prediction

Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn: Big Fight Preview & Prediction

Unfinished business is the tagline. Business being the keyword. Money left on the table. In many ways, they just had to do it again.

Despite so many unanswered questions surrounding the obvious, and a rivalry that was manufactured to an inch of its life, the first fight exceeded all expectations. It had drama straight out of a film script. One father was already in place. Another making an unexpected guest appearance at the eleventh hour, clipped to maximum effect. The dad’s in a supporting role this time. It wouldn’t have been the same without them. In truth, it wouldn’t have happened without them.

Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn served up something truly remarkable. A brutal back-and-forth war. A fight much better than it had any right to be. Benn lost, but found some kind of redemption in defeat. Those unanswered questions pushed even further away from the public consciousness.

Eubank (35-3) won and retained the family honour. But the price of victory was 48 hours in a London hospital due to severe dehydration. A dangerous rehydration clause is yet again in play. They got away with it last time. They are gambling again the second time around. One side of the promotion is saying they were proven right because of the fight we got in April. The length of Eubank’s post-fight hospital stay and the reasons why say otherwise.

It is a rivalry that is formed out of nostalgia and a desire to milk it for all its worth in the name of the dollar. It’s not about titles, it’s about family pride. And the money. Sometimes, the two go hand in hand. There is no shame in that. They are prizefighters, remember.

It seems different the second time around. The Tottenham Hotspur football stadium will be full enough again to satisfy the paymasters. But the buzz just isn’t the same. This time, Sky and their promotional machine won’t be there. An exclusive PPV rematch on DAZN that will undoubtedly reduce the eyeballs. A sign of the times, but still. When did we lose sight of getting as many eyes on the product as possible? Mainstream to niche, surely it should be the other way around?

Eubank and Benn won’t care too much about what happens outside of the ring. Their business lies elsewhere. The first fight delivered in every way imaginable. But can they possibly replicate it again on Saturday night? Remember, their father’s rematch couldn’t match their first offering all those years ago. Will history repeat itself?

Will Eubank want to go that deep again? Can his body, or his mind, go that deep again?

Has the first fight with Benn, taken what was left of his prime? There is every chance it has. Will the unnecessary and extremely dangerous rehydration clause deplete his body enough to affect his stamina and his punch resistance? There is every chance it will.

Eubank has earned plenty of coin during his fourteen-year professional career, but I think he has wasted his peak. His own arrogance and the lack of a regular trainer like Brian McIntyre in his corner have prevented Eubank from achieving what he should have done. When he was at his peak, Eubank was fighting at super-middleweight when he should have been fighting at middleweight. And now Eubank is in apparent decline; he is fighting at middleweight when he should be at the higher weight. In his advancing years, those eight pounds would make all the difference. Not only now, but in the years to come.

When the body started to fail him in April, and the legs couldn’t give any more, that incredible fighting heart that Eubank undoubtedly possesses took over. In truth, it saved him. At 36, and after such a long career, and with those severe hydration restrictions, there must be worries that this time he will just fall apart. I was ringside when Liam Smith suddenly did the unthinkable in Manchester a few years ago. Eubank got revenge in the immediate rematch, but what version of Smith did he actually beat? Did that performance flatter to deceive?

Eubank worked with Brian McIntyre for the second fight with Smith, and will do so again for the rematch with Benn this coming weekend. An encouraging sign, and a massive compliment to Conor Benn. If Eubank underestimated Benn in their first meeting, he certainly isn’t doing so now.

Conor Benn exceeded all reasonable expectations in April. He still looked raw and somewhat rusty at times, swinging and missing, and lunging in, hoping to find the money punch that never quite came his way. You could say he fought with too much emotion, anger even. But he proved a lot of critics wrong with the manner of his performance. Benn more than had his moments, and Eubank only sealed his dominance in the final few rounds. But Benn, to his credit, never stopped trying. Plenty of views would have softened towards him during those unforgettable thirty-six minutes of battle. At 29, Benn, you would assume, would recover quicker from the brutality of that incredible first fight. Benn, with a little more thought to his work, could be the fighter with more room for improvement. Benn does seem less angry this time, a man more in control of his emotions. Will that transfer positively or negatively to his performance inside a boxing ring? It could be the missing piece of his fighting arsenal. Or equally, it could take too much away from his natural fighting instincts.

Eubank is the better fighter; he is more refined, even before we have to mention his obvious size advantages. I do have extreme concerns about the rehydration clause, and Eubank will only find out what it has taken out of him in the heat of battle. It certainly played a part last time. It made the fight a lot closer than it probably should have been. If Eubank has regressed further and is too severely depleted from the effects of making and maintaining weight, he will almost certainly lose.

Despite seeing the fight previously, picking a winner still carries plenty of jeopardy. Nobody is quite sure what we will get. There is still plenty of intrigue and doubt. Most of the doubt admittedly is around what Chris Eubank Jr we will see. I do think ‘BoMac’ being brought back into the fold shows how seriously Eubank is taking the fight. It could even be the difference between winning and losing on Saturday night.

Last time, Eubank won ugly. This time, he will have to win in a manner that’s a little easier on the body. Another hard, gruelling fight, and we might see the older fighter bend and break.

Benn (23-1) is talking about sticking to the game plan better this time. But will more thought be to his detriment, and fighters usually revert to type eventually, and he could lose some of his natural aggression by being caught between two styles. Benn can win, but to do so, he might have to hope that he finds a Eubank who has slipped significantly since the last fight. On that score, Benn isn’t without hope.

Eubank will surely fight smarter this time, box more behind his excellent jab and pick off Benn as he rushes in. If the ageing body can give Eubank what he needs, he should win again in a fight that might not quite reach the heights it did in April. But this is Eubank vs. Benn, drama is practically a given. Expect the unexpected.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing