Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn are just hours away from finally getting their hands on each other and writing the latest chapter in British boxing’s greatest family rivalry.
It all started 35 years ago when their fathers fought each other for the first time. And when this fight was first scheduled in 2022 it was dubbed ‘Born Rivals’, signalling how it was largely being built on their dads’ legacies.
But a lot has happened in the last 30 months, and a new feud has sparked into life.
It has become clear that – like their fathers – Eubank Jr and Benn do not get along.
Eubank Jr has accused his rival of ‘cheating’, while Benn has made no secret of the fact he thinks his opponent on Saturday night is an ‘idiot’.
Neither man dares lose this weekend, as they know family honour and bragging rights are all on the line. Here, Mail Sport assesses how Eubank Jr vs Benn grew into the most bitter fight in boxing history.
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn will settle their differences in the ring on Saturday night
They are following in the footsteps of their fathers who fought each other twice in the 1990s
Eubank Jr will not have the support of his dad this weekend after he branded him ‘a disgrace’
The rivalry is born
Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr rose to the top of the middleweight rankings in the late 1980s, and the former got his hands on the WBO title in April 1990.
A clash between the pair was inevitable, and it was agreed for November 18, 1990 at Birmingham’s NEC Arena.
Both men famously signed their contracts on live TV, with Eubank Sr doing all he could to get under his opponent’s skin, while Benn struggled to keep his composure.
Millions tuned in to see how the fight would play out, with Eubank Sr considered the underdog given his limited level of opposition in his previous 24 fights.
But he upset the odds, surviving a knockdown before forcing a ninth-round stoppage to become world champion.
The toe-to-toe battle was so gripping that a rematch simply had to happen. Three years later, fans got their wish as the two Brits signed to fight each other at Old Trafford.
Once again, neither man took a backwards step, but despite many observers feeling Benn had done enough to get his hand raised the contest was scored a draw.
For some reason, a third fight never materialised. Having shared almost 21 rounds together there was respect between the pair, but it did feel like there was unfinished business. Step forward the sons…
Eubank Sr came through a toe-to-toe battle to stop Nigel Benn in the ninth round in 1990
Eubank Sr survived a knockdown before battling back to force a stoppage and become world champion
The two men fought again in 1993 at Old Trafford, and the bout was scored a draw
The rivalry reignites
Eubank Sr was initially reluctant to let his son box, but Jr eventually got his way and turned professional in 2011.
Five years later Nigel’s son, Conor, also made the switch to the professional ranks and found himself sitting on the same table as the Eubanks at a press conference in 2016.
With Nigel absent from the media event, Eubank Sr raised concerns about Conor’s lack of guidance and suggested he was not surrounding himself with the right people. Conor bit back.
‘Who are you to talk about my personal life in front of all these cameras?’ he asked Eubank Sr. ‘I find that extremely disrespectful. It’s none of your business.
‘If you want to talk about my dad, talk about him. Don’t talk about me and come with all that.’
Eubank Sr seemed taken aback by Conor’s response as he attempted to defuse the situation, but there was no backing down from Nigel’s son.
At the time, Eubank Jr was campaigning at middleweight, while Benn was three divisions lower at light-welterweight, but the exchange planted the seed for what was to come further down the line.
Eubank Sr suggested Conor Benn was surrounding himself with the wrong people in 2016
Conor hit back and told Eubank Sr to stop talking about him and his personal life
The failed drugs tests
Six years on from that tense confrontation, Eubank Jr and Benn were still fighting two divisions apart, but that did not matter to them. They wanted to settle their differences in the ring.
After months of negotiations, it was announced that they would face each other at a catchweight of 157lbs in October 2022.
Fight week arrived and anticipation was growing for the O2 Arena bout, but just three days before they were due to meet, Mail Sport exclusively revealed that Benn had failed a drugs test.
Benn had tested positive for the banned substance clomifene, and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) announced that they would no longer be sanctioning the fight.
The two fighters still went ahead with their public workouts amid uncertainty over whether the fight would still take place, until it was finally cancelled on the Thursday.
Eubank Sr had opposed the fight even before the failed drugs test – and it later transpired that Benn had tested positive twice.
He was unhappy with his son dropping to below the middleweight limit, and subsequently accused the organisers of the fight of ‘attempted murder’ as he explained why he refused to get involved in the bout.
‘If you’re 33 years old, you can’t do what you used to do in your mid-20s, which is to lose weight and to be able to handle the loss of that weight,’ he told talkSPORT.
‘To take a man down 3lbs beneath the middleweight limit (160lbs), to have him boil down to 157lbs is literally attempted murder.
‘And they wanted me to be an accomplice to it. They were asking me to take money to come onto DAZN and be a part of it.
‘They asked me to be in my son’s corner, they were trying to pay me to be in my son’s corner, they wanted me to be an accomplice to my son’s murder.’
Eubank Jr was filed £375,000 on Friday after missing weight for Saturday’s big fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
He was hit with the heavy fine after weighing 0.05lb over the 11st 6lb middleweight limit.
Conor Benn failed two drugs tests, leading to his October 2022 bout with Eubank Jr being cancelled
Eubank Sr was furious that his son had taken the fight at 157lbs in the first place
He subsequently accused the organisers of his son’s collapsed fight of ‘attempted murder’
The egg slap
In the aftermath of his failed tests, Benn insisted he had not done anything wrong. He relinquished his British licence and set about trying to find out how clomifene had got into his system.
One theory that he put forward for the adverse findings was that he may have consumed too many eggs in the build-up to the fight.
He later backtracked on this, but it clearly stuck with Eubank Jr. After two years of trying to prove his innocence, Benn was finally cleared to fight in November 2024, and it did not take long for his grudge match with Eubank Jr to be rescheduled.
They went face-to-face at the launch press conference in February, and Eubank Jr ensured it was a memorable occasion.
During the staredown, Eubank Jr grabbed an egg – a reference to Benn’s bizarre excuse – and slapped his rival around the face with it.
Chaotic scenes ensued, with security having to jump in to keep the pair apart.
Eubank Jr was fined £100,000 for his actions, but insisted he had no regrets.
Eubank Jr slapped Benn with an egg at the launch press conference for the fight in February
Eubank Jr was fined £100,000 but insisted he did not regret his behaviour
Eubank Sr turns on his son
Eubank Sr was not at either press conference in February after disapproving of the fight once again.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t keeping a close eye on his son’s behaviour.
Speaking last week, he branded Eubank Jr ‘a disgrace’, while also confirming he would not attend the fight.
Asked for his thoughts on Eubank Jr’s stunt, Sr said: ‘That is disgraceful. I’m going to be in your corner? I would never have been in your corner; that is a disgrace.
‘You are smashing an egg in someone’s face, and you are trying to justify it. There is no justification for it. There is nothing noble about that.’
Eubank Jr addressed his father’s criticism at Thursday’s final press conference, as he spoke about the ‘pain’ of not having Sr by his side for the biggest fight of his career.
In an emotional monologue, Eubank Jr also opened up about the agony of losing his brother, Sebastian, following a heart attack in Dubai in 2021.
‘I have a 31-year-old brother who is buried in the desert in Dubai; that is pain,’ Jr explained. ‘I have his son, three years old, he asks why can’t I see my daddy? Why can’t he take me to school? That is pain.
‘My own father, a man I idolised for my entire life, and he doesn’t speak to me. We haven’t spoken for years and he thinks I’m a disgrace. These things are what pain is to me.’
Eubank Sr also lost his brother, Simon, in 2023 following a battle with dementia, and described seeing him struggle in his final days as ‘soul-destroying’.
The former world champion also raised concerns about his son fighting at the middleweight limit of 160lbs after also agreeing to a rehydration clause that states he cannot weigh more than 170lbs at a second-weigh in on the day of the fight.
Eubank Jr subsequently missed weight by half an ounce on Friday and was hit with a $500,000 fine.
Eubank Sr branded his son ‘a disgrace’ for slapping Benn around the face with an egg
Eubank Jr opened up on the ‘pain’ of his father turning on him at Thursday’s press conference
Eubank Jr also spoke about the agony of losing his brother, Sebastian (pictured), following a heart attack in Dubai in 2021
Split loyalties
Tragedy has struck the Eubank family in recent years with the passing of Sebastian and Simon.
There are also complications within the family dynamic that only add intrigue to Saturday’s fight.
At Thursday’s press conference, Eubank Jr refused to let Eddie Hearn speak, leading to Benn’s promoter calling his right-hand man Frank Smith to the stage to take his place.
Fascinatingly, Smith is currently dating Eubank Jr’s sister, Emily, and the couple have been together since 2016.
Matchroom’s Frank Smith (pictured) is currently dating Eubank Jr’s sister, Emily
Smith and Emily (pictured) have been dating since 2016, but Smith is in Benn’s corner this weekend
Eubank Jr was not interested in letting his potential brother-in-law speak at Thursday’s press conference
Due to this, Smith has a greater insight into the Eubank family, but there is no doubting that he is in Benn’s corner this weekend.
Eubank Jr also showed he has little time for his potential future brother-in-law as he quickly shut him down at the top table.
‘If I’m not letting Eddie speak then there is no way you are getting a chance,’ Eubank Jr told Smith.
It promises to be a slightly uncomfortable evening for Smith on Saturday. He recently revealed that he called Eubank Jr an ‘a***hole’ in the past, but also admitted he is ‘probably a bit too close’ to the fight for his liking.
