The British boxing legend stuck up for his son just days before Chris Jr is set to lock horns with long-time rival Conor Benn for a second time
Chris Eubank Sr was forced to stick up for his son after talkSPORT presenter Simon Jordan quizzed the boxing icon over Chris Jr’s weight struggles.
Eubank Jr is set to renew hostilities with Conor Benn on Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – seven months on from their initial encounter. After a gruelling, back-and-forth middleweight dust-up, Eubank Jr emerged victorious after scoring a razor-thin decision victory.
The build-up to the fight was marred by controversy after Eubank Jr failed to make the middleweight limit of 160lbs – and was subsequently forced to pay his rival £375,000. He avoided another hefty fine, though, after he weighed in at 169.4lbs on the morning of his fight with Benn.
Ahead of Saturday night’s blockbuster sequel, the stipulations are set to be the same – with a limit of 160lbs and a rehydration clause of 170lbs. Eubank Sr famously condemned the first fight, insisting that his son was killing himself in order to cut down to middleweight. On Monday, Chris Sr discussed his son’s upcoming sequel with Benn and ended up getting involved in a heated verbal exchange with Jordan.
“If he fights at middleweight for nearly seven years. The only boil down argument you had is when he was fighting at 157lbs [2022 cancelled fight with Benn], so can he fight at 160lbs now or not?” said Jordan. Eubank Sr did not take kindly to those words as he furiously responded: “Absolute nonsense, you don’t know what you are talking about.
“You don’t know boxing, I can’t argue with you, you don’t know what you are talking about because you don’t know boxing. You don’t know it from inside, I have advised him to not fight at 160lbs because it is very dangerous. You need rules to protect the fighters from themselves, you people need to be holding them to account.”
The 59-year-old continued to defend his son, saying: “It’s against the rules, what you are saying to me is that, ‘Chris Eubank can do that’, he can but it is against the rules. Hold these guys to account. We are not going round in circles, you know what I’m saying is right. The Boxing Board, hold them to account.”
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But Jordan did not hold back in his response, replying: “The moral argument I understand, but it isn’t against the rules. They can all do it, Manny Pacquiao done it, that is a different discussion [holding them to account], change the rules then.”
Despite Chris Sr grabbing the headlines ahead of the first outing, urging the boxing fraternity to boycott the showcase, the British boxing legend ended up surprising the masses by turning up to support his son on fight night, and is expected to be in his son’s corner once again for the rematch on Saturday night.
When is Conor Benn vs Chris Eubank Jr II?
The 12-round middleweight rematch is set to occur on Saturday, November 15. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London will once again play host to the event. Official timings are still under wraps – but it’s expected that the undercard will kick off at around 5pm UK time.
For the main event, the ringwalks are anticipated to happen at approximately 9:50pm UK time. The bout will be broadcast live and exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view.