The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will play host to Conor Benn vs Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday and the mind games between the rivals have begun in the lead-up to the bout
Conor Benn has asked Billy Joe Saunders to inspect rival Chris Eubank Jr’s hand wraps before their upcoming bout. The long-awaited Eubank vs Benn bout is finally set to take place on Saturday, more than two years after its initial scheduled date, and the mind games between the rivals have begun.
The original fight was set for late 2022, only for Benn to test positive for a banned substance. The 28-year-old has always denied any wrongdoing and UK Anti-Doping’s case was dismissed by the National Anti-Doping Panel – freeing him up to fight in the UK again.
He will now take on Eubank Jr at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with both men expected to pocket around £7.5million for their involvement. In the lead-up to the bout, though, British fighter Saunders – a long-term rival of Eubank Jr’s has spoken about Benn’s request.
“Conor Benn has actually asked me to come and watch Eubank’s hands get wrapped up,” Saunders said, per Ring Magazine. “I’m going to have a call with him later to discuss it. He wants me to go in there and make sure there’s no cheating with the hand wraps. The one person Eubank will not want to see on the night is me.
“I think it’s going to be a good fight, but I want to see Conor Benn knock him out cold. Regardless of the result, I’ve always got the win over him so it doesn’t really matter to me. I would like to see Conor Benn knock him out cold and if I can help him do so then I will.”
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Saunders had his own meeting with Eubank back in 2014, when he and his opponent were both in their mid-20s. He won by split decision, retaining his European, British, and Commonwealth middleweight titles in the process.
Eubank Jr, 35, holds a 34-3 career record ahead of his meeting with Benn. Most recently, he beat Kamil Szeremeta in Riyadh and clashed with Benn before the bout.
“Coming in there to steamroll him? Of course I am,” Benn told Sky Sports ahead of Saturday’s clash. “You think I’m coming in there to muck about? That’s just how I am.
“If you think you’re faster than me, prove it. You think you’re stronger than me, prove it. You think you’re smarter than me, prove it. Come meet me in the middle.”
Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn also talked up the Destroyer’s fast-start. “There are very few fighters that are as sharp as Conor Benn early in a fight like that,” he said. “Conor tries to end the fight in the first round, that’s why he’s so exciting.”
Benn also outlined his main pre-fight demand when speaking to iFL TV. “The only thing I’ve asked for in contractually… not my name first, not home corner, not ring walk second… all I’ve asked for is an 18 foot ring,” he said.
