Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn still seem destined to fight after their first ill-fated attempt in 2022.
Two failed doping test on the part of Benn saw the event pulled during fight week, but one year on both fighters are keen on trying again.
Eubank has lost to Liam Smith and avenged that defeat in good fashion in the time since, whilst Benn has been fighting his battles outside the ring, protesting his innocence but not yet able to convince his home governing body.
Still, he has returned to the ring in Florida and his promotional team are confident of making the fight with Eubank, pitting two well-known British names together.
Another English fighter who is looking for big fights is Billy Joe Saunders. The two-time world champion will fight again following two years out, and was asked by IFL TV about having a rematch with Eubank.
In his answer, he predicted how the Benn fight would play out.
“Listen, commercially it’s one of them that makes sense for both of us. Eddie [Hearn] is the man to make it. At the minute, he’s a 160 fighter, so I think he’s trying to prove himself at 160.
Obviously there’s a big fight for him there at the minute in Conor Benn. It’s an interesting fight that everybody wants to see. I’ll let Conor Benn take care of him at 160, then he’ll probably move up to 168 and I’ll just finish him off. I’ll take the leftovers.”
Saunders beat Eubank by split decision back in 2014, retaining the European, British, and Commonwealth middleweight titles. He would win his first world title two fights later against Andy Lee.
The pair share one of the more bitter British rivalries, with Saunders often remarking that Eubank does not have what it takes to be a world champion.
As he says, a rematch would make sense commercially, but Eubank’s potential bout with Benn takes precedence for all involved.
Where that stands is still relatively unknown, with the latter still not possessing a British license to box. Promoter Eddie Hearn has told Boxing Social that they may look to stage the fight in Abu Dhabi on December 23 should the UK be off the table due to his fighter’s ongoing dispute with the Board.