Conor Benn has unearthed some details about a meeting he had with a future opponent.
The WBA Continental welterweight champion will step up in weight and class when he returns to the ring on October 8.
Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) is set to come up against Chris Eubank Jr., exclusively live on DAZN worldwide and DAZN Pay-Per-View in the UK & Ireland, in a legacy showdown at a catchweight of 157 pounds, reigniting the rivalry between the two families.
Benn’s father Nigel was the middleweight and super-middleweight champion when he fought Eubank’s father Chris Sr twice in the 1990s.
Eubank won the pair’s first meeting before the rematch, at 168lb, was scored a draw at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium in October 1993.
The sons of the two legends will meet 29 years later, minus a day, at the O2 Arena in London.
And Benn, 25, has revealed that the pair met in Brighton and has called Eubank Jr. “a carbon copy of his Dad.”
Benn, whose father Nigel is likely to be in the UK for the duration of his training camp for the Eubank fight, said to TalkSport:
“His approach to it has been completely different to my approach.
“I’m not going to fake anything.
“We are complete opposites anyway. Off camera, we were standing there in Brighton and I went to see my pals.”
Eubank Jr., who is reportedly yet to hear from his eccentric father Chris Sr. since the announcement of the Benn fight, for which he wants his Dad in his corner over Roy Jones Jr., his trainer, or long-time mentor Ronnie Davies, said something that didn’t go down too well with ‘The Destroyer’.
Benn continued about the chance encounter:
“He’s gone: ‘I’m going Vegas’
“I said: ‘What are you going to Vegas for?’ And he replied: ‘Life, my friend, life.’
“I just looked at him and said: ‘What sort of response is that?’”
Eubank Jr. does not believe he has to be at his best to beat Benn, claiming that he will only be at 60 per cent after having to cut weight to the agreed limit, with a rehydration clause and a hefty £100,000-per-pound — or maybe more, if promoter Eddie Hearn is to be believed — fine for either fighter who tips the scales over the limit.
At the launch press conference for the fight in London on Friday, Eubank Jr. spoke about the weight cut:
“I can’t be 100 per cent if I have to make a weight I’ve never made before and I can’t rehydrate fully.
“If I could be 100 per cent, it would be a public execution.”