Conor Benn is officially done waiting around for Chris Eubank Jr.
Chris Eubank Jr. has 24 hours to decide if he's going through with the Conor Benn rematch, Benn and promoter Eddie Hearn declared Monday afternoon on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show."
"We're waiting," Matchroom's Hearn said over an impromptu call. "These people are so painful. They signed a contract [for] a two-fight deal. We told them September 20 [or] 27. They said, 'That's fine.'
"Obviously it was announced on the night [of the first fight in April that] the rematch would be on [September] 27th, and they're just slow and painful. We don't want to be messed around. Conor Benn is one of the biggest stars in boxing right now. Everybody wants to fight him. We need an answer, and hopefully that will come, I think, in the next 24 hours, so we stand by."
Saudi Arabian boxing financier Turki Alalshikh announced this past month that the Eubank vs. Benn rematch is set to take place on Sept. 20 at a venue to be determined, with the terms of the fight being the same as the first encounter, including a 160-pound middleweight limit and a 10-pound rehydration clause.
When Alalshikh made the announcement, he did so without telling any of the parties involved, and so although discussions were ongoing about the rematch, it came as a surprise to Eubank's team. Neither Eubank, his immediate team, nor his partner Ben Shalom's BOXXER has acknowledged the announcement about the rematch on social media.
"I've heard Eubank doesn't want the fight. He's moaning about the weight stipulation, the 160 [pound limit]," Benn said Monday during an in-studio appearance.
"But you've got to remember, he's fought — you didn't hear him moan about making 160 for Liam Smith when he got beat. He didn't use that as an excuse, he didn't moan about the 160. I'm not a 160 fighter, I'm willing to come up to 160 and put my career on hold to give the fans what they want, which was the Eubank fight. If he doesn't want to do the fight September 20, we've already got plans. You've got the world titles, you've got the Shakur [Stevenson] fight.
"You've got to remember, Eubank's last five fights have been at 160. He's had what, 15, 17 fights at 160? The majority of his career was at 160. But obviously he had pre-planned all of this with the weight cut [being so difficult for him]. It was a good narrative to push, and a lot of people believed it. But the reality is, I've come up two weights to his weight division. If he doesn't want to do the fight and he is bottling it, which is what he is [doing], he's scared."
Eubank Jr. documented his weight cut for the first Benn fight, even alluding that he used a sauna, or a general equivalent of one, to make weight — which is against British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) rules. Despite this, a BBBofC investigation into the matter found that Eubank had not used a sauna on the day of the weigh-in to make weight, regardless of Eubank insinuating that he had.
The BBBofC did, however, find Eubank guilty of "improper use of social media" for alluding to the use of a sauna and fined him £10,000 ($13,400) for the infraction. That was the third fine for Eubank in relation to the Benn fight. He was penalized for the sum of £100,000 ($134,300) for his viral egg-slap of Benn at their launch press conference in February, and then forced to pay Benn a £375,000 ($500,000) penalty after he missed weight by 0.05 pounds at the official weigh-in in April.
Despite Eubank's alleged reservations about making the middleweight limit for a rematch, BBBofC general secretary Robert Smith has insisted that he is not worried about Eubank safely making 160 pounds for the second fight after conducting multiple check weights — weigh-ins at certain points throughout a fighter's training camp — on Eubank before the first fight.
"As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't even want to do 160," Benn said. "I don't know what he's pushing for, but whatever it is, I'm not doing [it]. I'm not even a big 147 [welterweight]. So I'll fight the likes of Shakur pillow fists instead. Why would I not fight pillow fists instead, who's coming up from 135, over jumping up to super middle[weight]? For what? For [Eubank] to come in at light heavy[weight]? I went into the ring at 160, 162 [for the first Eubank fight]. I weighed in at 157, and that was me putting on weight.
"I'm excited to go back down to 147, where I'm at my most dangerous," Benn continued. "You see [Terence] Crawford, when he went up to fight [Israil] Madrimov at 154, his knockout streak ended, and then he's going up to 168 [to fight Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez]. It's a massive difference going from 147 to 154. Glove size [8 ounces to 10 ounces], the way they absorb punishment — it's different."
"For me, if I'm dropping back down to 147, I really want it to be the world title. As soon as I've got that, [my] bucket list [is] done. Not many fighters can say they've achieved the world title and the money as well. I've just got to get the world title. I know money always follows. Money is money, you make it, you lose it, you make it, you lose it. But the world title is a real personal goal to just say, 'Yo, I've done it. I made it.'"
Benn repeatedly insisted that he would only take the Eubank rematch at the terms which were agreed upon before the first fight — 160 pounds and a 170-pound fight-day weigh-in limit. The son of legendary British boxer Nigel Benn, Conor Benn is a career welterweight and believes that he is already at a sizable disadvantage facing Eubank Jr. as a middleweight. Eubank has fought the majority of his career at middleweight but did have a stint at super middleweight several years ago.
If Eubank refuses to agree to the rematch within 24 hours, Benn claims he will plan his next fight back down at welterweight, and he would like it to be for a world title. Before the first Eubank Jr. vs. Benn fight was agreed, Benn's team was in conversations to face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. Benn, instead, chose to face Eubank, while Barrios is set to defend his title this Saturday in Las Vegas against the legendary Manny Pacquiao.
Benn will surely have one eye on Saturday's Pacquiao vs. Barrios bout, as not only does it represent a potential lucrative world title fight for him against the winner, but the British boxer has been in talks to face both Pacquiao and Barrios in recent years.
Benn was also joined briefly in-studio by WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, who appeared earlier on Monday's show following his successful title defense over William Zepeda.
After some tense back and forth, Stevenson told Benn that he would be open to moving up two weight classes to welterweight to face Benn at a stadium show in London. Benn agreed to Stevenson's challenge if Eubank Jr. doesn't agree to the rematch.
"We can do the [Stevenson] fight next," Benn said. "My first fight back at 147 — I'll drop back down straight away and fight him. I don't want no warm-up at 147, I didn't want a warm-up at 160. For me, I just want to go in there and fight the best."
"I'm down," Stevenson told Benn. "But don't go fighting Eubank and take a lot of punishment, and after I beat you, say, 'I had two wars with Chris Eubank Jr.' I don't need no excuses."
Category: General Sports
