Home Boxing News Conor Benn will beat Chris Eubank Jr late, according to promoter

Conor Benn will beat Chris Eubank Jr late, according to promoter

Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn. Photo credit: Matchroom Boxing

The promoter of welterweight contender Conor ‘The Destroyer’ Benn 21-0 (14) believes he will come home with a wet sail in his catchweight bout against middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr 32-2 (23) when they meet at the O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday night.

The bout is scheduled to take place at 157-pounds.

Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing said on the promotional company’s YouTube channel on Monday: “I see Conor Benn beating Chris Eubank with a mixture of boxing and fighting.

“I think he’s gotta be very smart, he’s gotta be very slick, he’s gotta be very fast. He will stand in the pocket and trade. We know that. You can never stop Connor Benn from doing that. He shouldn’t do it too often because it’s dangerous and, you know, Eubank is probably the heavier puncher.

“[Eubank] has an outstanding chin, but I believe this fight will have an incredible intensity. And I think Conor Benn can stop Chris Eubank Jr late, but I believe he’ll beat him on points. And I believe he’ll beat him convincingly.”

The 26-year-old Benn and the 33-year-old Eubank, both of England, share family history due to their father’s two-fight rivalry in the 1990s. Nigel Benn was stopped in nine frames by Chris Eubank Sr in their first encounter in 1990 but managed to secure a split draw in their rematch three years later.

“The one thing with Conor Benn is, even when he started as a pro, he was very, very limited, when he turned professional,” Hearn said. “But you could see his dad in him. You could see the ferociousness. You could see the upper body movement. And when he let [his hands] go up against the ropes. And, of course, Eubank, you’ve always seen his father in him. From the jumping at the ropes, from the posing before the ring walk. So the similarities are there in technique and in personality. And it’s just amazing to watch.

“You keep asking yourself, ‘Can he do it? Have we made the right decision?’ And I really believe he can. I really believe he can go in and mix it with Chris Eubank Jr at 157. Can he handle the power? Can he put a dent in Eubank Jr? Can he out-box Eubank Jr? How hard has Eubank Jr really trained? How seriously has he taken this fight?”

Those questions will be answered on fight night, but one surprising pundit has called for a boycott of the bout.

In a statement issued to British boxing podcast The Fight is Right hosted by Spencer Fearon and Tunde Ajayi, Eubank Sr warned that Benn could be seriously damaged in the bout.

“Dear Spencer and The Fight is Right. Boycott the fight: [Eubank] Jr versus Benn,” he said. “You know what three pounds beneath the middleweight limit at 33-years-old can do.

“This is how brain injuries occur.”