For Old Timers, Conor Benn vs. Chris Eubank Jr Smacks of Unfinished Business

Conor Benn and Chis Eubank Jr meet on Saturday at London’s O2 Arena. The match, one might say, has been 29 years in the making.

The fathers of Conor and Chris fought twice in the early 1990s. The first meeting between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, contested in Birmingham, was a fight for the ages. The second encounter at Manchester’s Old Trafford Cricket Ground wasn’t as breathtaking, but it was a very close fight and a financial blockbuster. The turnout, reportedly 40,000, was the most at a British boxing show in 27 years.

A third meeting was considered a foregone conclusion, but it never came to pass. Instead, Nigel and Chris will experience it vicariously as they root on their respective fighting sons, Conor, 27, and Chris Jr, 33. Their match is scheduled for 12 rounds at a catch-weight of 157 pounds.

The Benn-Eubank series currently stands at 1-0-1 in favor of Eubank. In their first meeting, Benn was risking his WBO middleweight title which he won on American soil with an eighth-round stoppage of Doug DeWitt and successfully defended with a first-round blast-out of Iran Barkley.

Chris Eubank was undefeated (24-0, 14 KOs) but didn’t punch as hard as Benn and had fought a much softer schedule. His fight with Nigel Benn, nicknamed the Dark Destroyer, would be his coming-out party. In a fight with several momentum shifts, Eubank trailed by one point on two of the cards heading into the ninth frame when – emboldened by Benn’s swollen left eye — he cranked up the intensity, strafing Benn with a barrage of punches that led U.S. referee Richard Steele to waive it off with four seconds remaining in the frame.

Three years elapsed before the sequel. During the interim, both were very busy. Nigel Benn had 10 fights, winning eight inside the distance, and captured a title in a second weight division, winning the WBC super middleweight diadem. Chris Eubank likewise moved up in class and he also captured a 168-pound belt, in his case the WBO version.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Benn-Eubank II which aired on Showtime in the United States (tape-delayed on Saturday night and replayed on Sunday afternoon) was one of the most eagerly anticipated match-ups in the history of boxing. It had somewhat of an Ali-Frazier tint with Benn, more down-to-earth, assuming the Joe Frazier role and Eubank, who dressed and carried himself like a country squire, more charismatic. And when the smoke cleared, both had retained their titles.

The draw, 115-113 (Eubank), 114-113 (Benn) and 114-114 was controversial in that Benn had a point deducted for low blows in round six without which he would have won a split decision.

Negotiations for a third meeting never did bear fruit. Nigel Benn made five more successful defenses of his WBC title before his career hit a wall. He finished 42-5-1 (35 KOs) after back-to-back losses to Ireland’s “Celtic Warrior” Steve Collins. Chris Eubank left the sport with a near-identical record (45-5-2, but only 23 KOs) after back-to-back losses to countryman Carl Thompson, a cruiserweight.

And now it is up to the sons to write the next chapter, to finish what their elders have started.

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Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr are Englishmen by birth but each took a circuitous path to Saturday’s rumble. Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) spent much of his formative years on the Spanish island of Majorca and first laced on the gloves in Australia where his father now lives. Chris Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KOs) spent a portion of his teen years and early pro years in Las Vegas where he frequented the Mayweather Gym. His first documented amateur fights were in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the hometown of the Mayweather clan. Both were reportedly discouraged by their fathers from entering the squared circle, but were impelled to follow in their footsteps.

Benn is undefeated, but has had a few bumps. He nearly came a cropper in his first meeting with Cedrick Peychaud, a modestly-skilled Frenchman. Benn won the 6-round match, but was on the canvas twice and looked amateurish at times. They were rematched over 10 rounds, and although Benn prevailed, the Frenchman, who currently sports an 8-8-3 record, won a few rounds. But since those hiccups, Conor has improved tremendously.

In 2021, Benn scored brutal knockouts of Samuel Vargas and Chris Algieri sandwiched around a 10-round decision over Adrian Granados. That made him the TSS Breakout Fighter of the Year in our annual end-of-year poll. In April of this year in his most recent fight, he kept the ball rolling, blowing away South African veteran Chris van Heerden in the second stanza.

Chris Eubank Jr suffered his first loss at the hands of future title-holder Billy Joe Saunders, a 12-round split decision. No one outside the Saunders camp would have squawked if that 2014 fight had been scored a draw. But his second setback, 39 months later, was a clear defeat. George Groves fought through a dislocated shoulder to upend Eubank in a bloody, 12-round war.

Eubank Jr has won six fights since that mishap, most notably a wide 12-round decision over former Olympic gold medalist and two-time 168-pound title-holder James DeGale who was rucked into retirement. In his most recent outing, at Cardiff in February, he won a wide 12-round decision over local fan favorite Liam Williams. That fight was contested at middleweight where Eubank had returned after a brief foray one weight class up.

In man-to-man betting, Eubank Jr is currently a 2/1 favorite. The odds reflect the fact that he is naturally the bigger man, is more experienced, and has fought stiffer competition. The bout, a Matchroom promotion that is reportedly sold out, will air on DAZN pay-per-view in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand and will be free to DAZN subscribers in North America. The ring walks are expected to go at 5:23 p.m. ET.

Can Conor Benn even up the series at 1-1-1? Even if these guys didn’t have famous surnames, this would still be a very compelling match-up.

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