Conor Benn spoke to fans last night to clear up any confusion about his fight with Chris Eubank Jr, as well as providing details about the now infamous call with Eubank Sr.
Eubank Sr, who shared the ring with Nigel Benn twice around three decades ago, seemingly threw his son’s fight plans into jeopardy this week as he sensationally claimed he was pulling him from the fight. Eubank Jr is set to face Benn at The O2 in London on October 8 at a catchweight of 157lbs.
Citing a dangerous weight cut, Eubank Sr was adamant that the fight wouldn’t go ahead on his watch. Details of the Zoom call in which he said it, first reported by the Daily Mail, were murky. However, the younger Benn has taken to social media to offer clarity.
Speaking on his Twitter account via Spaces, Conor Benn assured listeners that the fight is going ahead.
“The press and social pages have blown this out of proportion to what Eubank Sr was saying really. Basically, what happened was Senior has just gone on a rant saying 157 – it’s not healthy for my son – you should pull him out of the fight, I’ll pay the penalty and just going on about it.
It was an issue on their side. It’s a miscommunication on their side – obviously Senior has no involvement in his son’s career, so I don’t think he will be there in the corner on the night – which is what he was saying on the phone. So, it does leave me baffled as to who’s in Junior’s corner if it’s Roy Jones or Senior – it’s all just a mess.
All I know is that I’ve got a strong united front my end – me and my team are united and we’re all on one mission which is getting the victory October 8th.
I can’t say it was taken out of context – he did say he was going to take legal action to stop the fight and all of that but it’s completely irrelevant.”
Asked whether it could be mind games on the part of the Eubank family, Benn was unsure but didn’t rule it out. Either way, he says it makes no difference.
“Maybe – He’s the king of mind games isn’t he? Junior’s trying to play mind games as well, but it makes no difference to me you know. I could be preparing for King Kong October 8th – I’m still going to go in there the same and train exactly the same.”
To close the subject, Benn solidified the fight plans, citing contracts as the deciding factor.
“The fight is on. The fight was always happening. I didn’t take into any consideration what Senior was saying because at the end of the day it means nothing – he wasn’t the one who signed the contract and I don’t believe he’s Junior’s manager or anything – so as far as I’m concerned the fight’s on.”