Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn have followed their fathers’ footsteps into boxing, and are set to renew their historic rivalry by stepping into the ring together.
During the Face Off, hosted by Ade Oladipo, the pair of fighters detailed the responses from their dads when the fight was first made. Eubank Sr, it turns out, didn’t want his son to take they fight. Not forever, just not yet.
“He [Senior] said don’t take the fight. Don’t take it because it’s not the right time. Wait a year, get a few more wins under your belt, let him [Benn] get a few more wins. Build the fight, build the hype and have it in a football stadium next year. This fight does that, and the quick turnaround we’ve got now we can’t put it in a stadium. So his thing was wait.”
Despite his reluctance at this stage, Eubank Sr will be a driving motivation in the catchweight clash. His son said that, whilst he didn’t dislike Benn, it was personal because of the family feud.
“It is personal because of what has happened in the past with out fathers. The way his old man treated my father. Just being a kid and seeing what he [Senior] had to go through to deal with his old man. The pressure and the mental suffering that he had to go through leading up to their first fight. The injuries and watching my mother have to take care of him after their fights – him going to hospital. His old man saying that he hates my dad. You hate my father? That makes it personal. I can’t let him [Conor] avenge his father’s loss.”
Nigel Benn was knocked out in the first fight with Eubank Sr. They met again three years later in 1993 in an often relentless contest that ended in a split-draw. In contrast to Eubank Sr, Benn was buzzing about his son’s fight being announced, as told by Conor.
“He [Nigel] just can’t wait to get over here. Put yourself in their shoes – who would’ve thought their sons would’ve been fighting? Or been at the same level? Or same generation? It’s never been done before so my dad’s just over the moon. He just said go out there and do the business. Do what you’ve got to do.”
Both Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr will be in the corners for their sons when they face off on October 8, live on DAZN PPV from a sold out O2 in London.