‘Born rivals': Your guide to the Eubank Jr vs Benn boxing fight

Al Jazeera

24-04-2025

A decades-old boxing rivalry between two families is set for a revival when Conor Benn takes on Chris Eubank Jr in a grudge match that has been over two years in the making.
The British fighters will finally meet in the ring after their initial bout in 2022 was cancelled amid controversial circumstances.
Here's everything you need to know about the fight:
The fight is on Saturday, April 26 .
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, United Kingdom, will host the fight.
The first fight is expected to begin at 18:00 GMT
Al Jazeera Sport will provide live text updates and photo coverage of the undercard and main fight from 17:45 GMT.
The fight will be livestreamed pay-per-view on DAZN.
While organisers have not revealed the figures, the total purse is believed to be $23m with a 60-40 split of the main fight tilted towards Eubank Jr.
Son of British boxing great and former middleweight boxing champion Chris Eubank, Eubank Jr is a professional boxer from Hove, a southern seaside town in the UK.
Since making his professional debut in 2011, the 35-year-old is the International Boxing Organization's (IBO) reigning middleweight champion and has also previously held the IBO's super middleweight title and the World Boxing Organization 's interim middleweight title.
Fighting with an orthodox stance, Eubank Jr is the top-ranked middleweight boxer in the UK and third in the world.
Benn, too, has boxing flowing through his blood as his father Nigel Benn was a two-weight champion in the 1990s. Based in the East London suburb of Ilford, the 28-year-old turned professional in 2016.
While Benn has yet to lose a professional fight, the boxer has faced a fair share of controversy, having failed a doping test in 2022.
The then-rising star of British boxing was suspended by the UK's anti-doping agency for using clomifene, a fertility drug deemed prohibited. His suspension was in November 2024.
Saturday's bout is a battle of second-generation contenders, reviving the Benn v Eubank feud in which the rivals' fathers battled it out in two ferocious contests in the early 1990s.
The pair's first gruesome fight took place in November 1990, which Eubank won by total knockout in the ninth round. A much-anticipated rematch was set up three years later and ended in a draw, leading to both men retaining their respective belts.
Nearly 22 years on, the progenies were meant to face off until Benn's doping violation put off the fight, which was titled, 'Born Rivals'.
Despite the history, the fighters insist they have not been urged by their fathers to revive the rivalry. Both senior fighters have been seen making cordial public appearances in recent years.
Eubank Jr smashed an egg into Benn's face during a news conference in February.
As the fighters faced off on stage, Eubank Jr pulled an egg from his pocket and smashed it against Benn's face, sparking a brawl as promoter Eddie Hearn and Benn's father, Nigel, tried to get at Eubank and his team.
Eubank Jr, who was fined $129,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control, had already made a reference to two drug tests Benn failed in 2022, which led to a two-year battle with anti-doping authorities.
'Apparently, egg contamination was the reason for his two failed drug tests. So I contaminated him with an egg,' Eubank Jr posted on X.
He defended his actions two days later at a second media event and said: 'Did I cross the line? During this whole process, I think many lines have been crossed.'
Benn responded on X, saying: 'That's the only shot you'll land on me … two rounds you are finished.'
Eubank Sr labelled his son a 'disgrace' for his pre-fight antics.
Since the bout will be fought at middleweight – 160lbs (71.5kg) – Benn must move up from his welterweight division – 147lbs (66kg).
Meanwhile, Eubank Jr fights at middleweight, but since the boxers cannot weigh more than 170lbs (77kg) on fight night, he will have to drop from his 180lbs (81kg).
But Eubank Jr has said he will fight with the precision of a 'matador' and treat Benn like a 'bull' and has no intention of backing down.
'This fight isn't about size or weight, it's about skill and dedication, it's about expertise and all of those areas I excel in. I have many years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor on the night,' he said on Tuesday.
'I'm a complete fighter. I've been doing this for so long now, I've forgotten more things than he even knows, and that will show on the night.
'The procedure will be parliamentary, everything will go the way I want it to go, I will be like a matador in the ring, and Conor Benn will be the bull.'
Benn will treat the fight as another opportunity to continue his unbeaten run.
'It's always personal. People say it's business. This is not business, it never is,' he said in the media events leading up to the fight.
'If you're trying to put your hands on me and render me unconscious, then it's not business, and this is personal.'
The former champion has distanced himself from the fight propped on the legacy of his rivalry with Benn senior.
Eubank believes the fight will put his son's life at risk, especially as he will have to move down in the weight division.
'My son probably walks around at around 180lb [81.6kg], and he has to boil himself down to 160lb [71.5kg],' he said in an interview with British tabloid The Sun last week.
'People don't understand what it means for Junior to get down to 160lb, at his age. They don't understand the drying out.
'I know what that feels like. I know about the dehydration and the damage it does to fighters.'
The 58-year-old said it was 'absolutely crazy' that his son agreed to the fight, which is touted to revive the decades-old rivalry.