Eddie Hearn has given his side of the story as to why Chris Eubank Jr chose to fight Liam Smith instead of Conor Benn.
Eubank lost conclusively to Smith back in January, suffering the first stoppage defeat of his career. ‘Next Gen’ had a contractual rematch clause, giving him the option to run it back immediately if he chose to do so.
All the post fight signals pointed towards him going straight into the rematch, but the possibility of fighting Benn for a lot more money in the Middle East started to gain momentum.
Eubank claimed he decided against facing Benn because he had to “avenge” the Smith loss.
“I decided against it. There was a substantial offer. I had to weigh up the pros and cons of taking that fight before taking the Smith fight – because the Smith fight was always gonna happen, I have to avenge the loss.”
Hearn, who promotes Benn, has given a slightly different version of events, stating that Eubank was “desperate” for the fight, they just simply ran out of time to make a deal.
Speaking to Boxing Social, the Matchroom boss said:
“We just ran out of time.
Kalle [Sauerland – Eubank’s promoter] and Eubank were desperate to fight Benn, but we jus couldn’t get it over the line and they had to make their call on that fight and they made their decision.
If he comes through we’d love to do the Eubank fight and if he gets beat he’ll retire.”
Eubank and Benn were of course scheduled to meet last October before news that ”The Destroyer” had failed two VADA tests, causing the fight to be cancelled.
Benn has since been linked to a host of opponents including Manny Pacquiao and Kell Brook.