Inside 934 days of Eubank-Benn bitterness and chaos

BBC News

22-04-2025

Reporters gathered in a London hotel on 6 October 2022 for a pre-fight news conference, only to be told the contest between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr - which was scheduled to take place two days later - had been cancelled.That was the moment 934 days of chaos began, and transformed what was an intense rivalry between two families into a bitter feud.The fight had been cancelled because Benn had failed a drugs test, which sent shockwaves through the sport. It meant a delay to the start of the second generation of Benn-Eubank rivalry, following their fathers' iconic fights in the early 1990s.More than two years on, the pair will finally face off in the ring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.Eubank has told BBC Sport he wants "revenge" and to "make Benn pay".Benn, who has always protested his innocence, predicts "a one-sided beat-down".From Benn's two-year doping battle to the infamous Eubank slap with an egg that left every tabloid headline writer scrambling for the best pun, it is hard to recall a fight already steeped in so much history, hatred and hostility before the chime of the first bell.
From cordial rivalry to a black eye for boxing
Former super-middleweight world champions Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn fought twice during a fabled era for the weight division in Britain. Eubank Sr won the first fight in 1990 and the second ended in a split-decision draw in 1993.Two decades later, their sons began their own boxing journeys. They competed in different divisions, though, so there was no clear collision path until a lucrative fight - courtesy of the public's nostalgia-fuelled demands - was agreed for October 2022.Despite some low-level trash talk, neither boxer overstepped the line during media events. They even shared a cordial handshake in one face-off interview."I could even say I liked him because there's no other person on the planet that's experiencing this journey and can relate to what I've gone through. There was 100% respect there," Eubank says.However, that respect disappeared when news that Benn had returned an adverse finding for women's fertility drug clomifene was leaked on the Wednesday of fight week.The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) decided not to sanction the fight, and the cancellation was confirmed a day later. Benn was smuggled out of the hotel before the assembled media was told.It was a black eye for boxing without a punch being thrown and it dragged Benn into one of British boxing's biggest doping stories.
Benn's failed tests - the backstory
Benn admitted to two failed tests but insisted he was innocent of intentional doping and suggested it may have been because of contamination.He was provisionally suspended from fighting in March 2023. After a lengthy saga, during which the ban was lifted then reintroduced following appeals by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) and the BBBofC, Benn was finally cleared to fight in the UK in November 2024.Before that, he twice competed in the United States, earning unspectacular points wins over Rodolfo Orozco in September 2023 and Peter Dobson in February 2024.But his reputation - back home, in particular - took a pounding.Benn sent a 270-page dossier to the WBC that he believed proved no wrongdoing. He was mocked by boxing followers when the WBC concluded the failed tests might have been caused by a "highly elevated consumption" of eggs.A well-known restaurant even posted an image of a regular pizza topped with boiled eggs, alongside the caption 'Conor Benn special'.Benn limited his media interviews, but came close to tears while talking about a "vendetta" against him when speaking to Piers Morgan.The reason for the failed tests remain inconclusive and we may never find out why or how clomifene entered Benn's body. Benn - who says he has spent £1m in legal costs - feels vindicated and does not see the need to release the dossier or the findings of his legal battle.Yet his promoter Eddie Hearn says he expects his fighter to be jeered during his ringwalk, with some of the boxing public remaining unconvinced.
Eubank's Smith rivalry, Benn's shadow & Neymar
While Benn dealt with failed doping tests, Eubank turned his attention elsewhere.He was one half of one of the most compelling rivalries of recent years, suffering a shock loss to Liverpudlian Liam Smith two months after his cancelled fight with Benn.Eubank avenged that defeat with a dominant win inside the distance eight months later.He had been in the running for a lucrative shot at undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, but the shadow of Benn was never far away - sometimes literally.Benn travelled to Saudi Arabia in October, pushing Eubank at a media event as his rival prepared to fight Kamil Szeremeta.After Eubank secured a routine stoppage win, Benn stormed the ring.Superstar Brazil footballer Neymar looked bemused, caught in the middle of a face-off as the pair hurled abuse at each other.After months of arguing over purse splits, it took wealthy Saudi Arabia to get the fighters to agree terms.Eubank says he is simply giving the public what they want."Why not exact my revenge on this man for the things he said about me, for the things he put me through over the last few years?" he says.Benn says there was "no other fight" for him, claiming he turned down a world title opportunity.
'Eggcellent' promotion as fight hits mainstream
The magnitude of the fight has gradually increased over the past two and a half years.Any doubts it would not sell out the 62,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were quickly put to bed during the first media blitz.The boxers squabbled like petulant schoolchildren at a news conference in February, with Eubank holding court, taking aim at everyone in his eyeline, including Benn and Hearn.Then came the viral moment.During their first face-off, Eubank took one of 16 eggs nestled in his pocket and slapped it across Benn's cheek, a nod to the aforementioned WBC report.Eubank coughed up a hefty £100,000 fine. Critics say it was a poor look for the sport, others feel it was a stroke of promotional genius.Whichever side you sit on, and for all the fighters and their fathers have gone through, the egg slap has become the unexpected defining image of a rivalry that will finally make it into the ring for a much-anticipated fight on Saturday.