Conor Benn could weigh more than Chris Eubank Jr. when the pair meet in the ring.
The duo, sons of legends Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr., are set to clash on October 8.
The fight will come at a catchweight of 157 pounds and will be staged at the O2 Arena in London, England, exclusively live on DAZN worldwide and on DAZN Pay-Per-View in the UK & Ireland.
Eubank Jr. recently said that he would not need to be at 100 per cent in order to win the fight against career welterweight Benn as he has to come down to his lowest weight to date as a pro in order to adhere to the contract.
There is a rehydration clause, which was rumoured to be around 10lbs, and a hefty £100,000-per-pound — or more, if promoter Eddie Hearn is to be believed, fine for either fighter who tips the scales over the limit. However, it seems that the amount Eubank Jr is able to put back after the 157lb weigh-in is stricter than most originally thought.
But Eubank Jr. laughed at the idea of having so much luxury as to put on the best part of a stone after the Friday weigh-in.
Former European champion fighter Spencer Oliver was discussing the weight parameters of the fight with talkSPORT’s Adam Catterall and admitted:
“This is where it gets confusing!”
The second weigh-in will take place 11am on fight day, to check out whether Eubank Jr. has stuck to his part of the bargain.
But Oliver, who was forced to retire in May 1998 after suffering a blood clot on the brain in a European super-bantamweight title defeat against Sergey Devakov at Royal Albert Hall in London, goes on to reveal the real extent to the rehydration clause.
“I thought it [the rehydration clause] was 10 pounds.
“I said to Chris Eubank Jr., when I did an interview with him, I said: ‘Look, Chris, you haven’t been down at 157 pounds as a pro, it’s going to be tight but you’ve got your rehydration clause, you’ve got your 10 pounds to put on…’
“He looks at me and he said: ‘You’re mad, I ain’t got 10 pounds to put on, [the clause is] not 10 pounds, that’s why it’s all working in Conor’s favour.’
“He said: ‘One, they’re getting me down to 157lbs and two, I’m not allowed to put on more than five pounds.’”
Benn insisted at the launch press conference for the fight on Friday in London that it was Eubank Jr’s team who suggested the agreed weight to them and they just went with it.
He also said that he has to lose weight to make the 157lb limit, despite usually boxing 10lbs lighter than that at welterweight (147lbs), while it appears that Eubank Jr. will not be allowed to weigh more than 162lbs at the weigh-in on the morning of the fight – does that open up the possibility of Benn coming in as the heavier man for the bout?