IN THE NAME OF THE FATHERS
“I think I have a copy ... It’s a picture of him hitting the speedball, isn’t it? I do think I have a copy,” said Benn excitedly. “To be involved in the first Ring Magazine event is history all- round, an absolute blessing, and it means so much. This is the DNA that my father has passed on to me ... You say it has been building for the past two and a half years, but this [fight] has had 35 years worth of building ... so to have both of me and Eubank here to make this happen, to agree to what works for both of us to be headlining the first Ring Magazine show, what a blessing!” Benn goes on, gathering steam, his passion for the battle brimming over. “You know ... I feel like this was always fate ... this was destiny. If the fight had happened before [as scheduled in October 2022], it would not be as big. It would not be on the Ring Magazine cover. So it feels like it fell at the right
on April 26.” At this point, and full disclosure here, Eubank failed to respond after two weeks of me asking his PR team and promoters to speak with us for this article in late January and early February – putting the interview on hold, yet teasing it might happen. In so many ways, that is typical Eubank. He won’t be budged from his road; he won’t give an inch. If it does not suit him, he ain’t doing it. Disappointing, but Eubank has always played a game of hard to get, and perhaps that is why he has succeeded in the poker playing in Las Vegas, which is well-documented. And in being a box-office success, beating the “mug’s game,” as his father called the industry, with an elite-level earning career without ever being a world champion – remarkable, really. I have interviewed Eubank Jr. many,
many times, have a great relationship with him, but on this one, there was radio silence. He has kept his views on Benn simple, though. Far from complimentary. Eubank says the fight will be “savage,” and called his opponent and promoter Eddie Hearn “rats.” Eubank said it was “business” ahead of the postponed contest but that the hate is now real, and that it is “personal, very personal.” To be sure, the nation will be divided. But Eubank has always been cold, calm and calculated in his career. It matters not if he has to be the figure of hate for the fans in this one. For the sake of the bloodline connection, however, the sense is that Eubank knows he MUST win this battle. But just listen to the emotional Benn speak. How does the pressure affect him? “Excuse my language, but fuck the noise. Let’s just get in there and fight,”
Benn battered Peter Dobson over 12 rounds.
If he wants to come and meet me in the middle, if he wants to box and move, it doesn’t change my strategy or mindset. It’s never mattered to me what my opponents do. It’s always ‘What can Conor Benn do? What does Conor Benn do well?’ It’s never what my opponents do.”
Again, so much like father, like son with the Benns. Nigel Benn told me a few years back: “When he was a kid, I saw a lot of my traits in Conor that I didn’t like. We have a better relationship now than we ever had. A lot of things I’ve done wrong, I apologized for. The kind of life I led really affected my family. And he said: ‘I’ll never be like you.’ When you hear that from your son, you think: ‘Thank you, Lord, that he’s not like me.’” That is in life, but in the ring? “Inside the ring, though, he’s doing better than I did. I see him going all the way.” Well, this is that moment, perhaps, where Benn has the opportunity to surpass his father. Not in terms of world title glory, but everlasting glory for the family. This Benn-Eubank fight isn’t just a sporting event; it’s a culmination of decades of drama, a clash molded and shaped from chaos, intrigue and controversy, and a narrative that has transcended the boundaries of boxing. And when the dust settles, only one man will emerge from the wreckage of the fight, with reputation either tarnished or reborn. The world will be watching this fight, this event. It is unmissable.
time or even perfect time. “It’s a blessing to make history, a blessing to be a part of history. I’ll be showing my son and my kids, as my dad did with me ... that this is generational. When you think Ring Magazine, you think boxing, and when you think boxing, you think Ring Magazine – over one hundred years of history on the sport. “Love it or hate it, with a fight of this magnitude there is always going to be controversy. The controversy sells. Over the past two and a half years – the catchweight, the names, the personalities – there are so many different boxes that have been ticked ... but all that matters for me now is that I come out with the ‘W’
Benn said. “I don’t look at it as more pressure on me. For whatever people want to say that’s negative about this fight, there ain’t no pressure. “Ultimately, I’m a fighter – I live for this. I was born for this. This is what I was made to do. I wasn’t raised a fighter. There is no reason why I have as much fight in me as I do ... apart from me being my father’s son. And you can say the same about Eubank. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Which is why the fight sells.” But is there more hate now, for Benn as well? “Definitely,” Benn said without hesitation. “Having the ‘W’ over a Eubank is something we always wanted – every day of the week ... and the drive is there to win the family battle. On a more personal level, the last three years have left a bad taste in my mouth, and I have taken it personally. We are two
different personalities. And that’s that, There’s a personality clash there. I don’t really have anything left to say to him. Here, it is plain and simple for Benn. He wants a war. From the first bell. Route one. “I’m going to bash his head in on April 26. There ain’t nothing else to say … that’s it. You never hear my dad once saying [anything] about me jumping up two weight divisions to 160 ... and you have Senior moaning about his son fighting at his own weight ... I’m not actually sure whether from Senior that is a dig at Eubank Jr. or whether it’s a compliment to me ... I’m undecided on it. “But my dad will be with me in the corner; he will be with me my whole camp. At the press conference, my dad is my right-hand man. “There is no pressure on me from my dad. Ultimately, I don’t care what Eubank does, how Eubank prepares.
Eubank Jr. stopped Kamil Szeremeta in seven.
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