Chris Eubank Jr’s promoter Ben Shalom believes any rematch with Conor Benn should be staged at a higher weight.
Eubank Jr and Benn continued a family feud turned into personal battle at the end of April, the two exchanging heavy blows in what has quickly become a British classic.
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Despite ending up as the victor, Eubank Jr was taken to hospital after the fight, having aggressively boiled down in an attempt to make the 160lb mark. “Next Gen” failed to reach the middleweight limit, and was further restricted from going back up in weight due to a 10lb rehydration clause.
Whilst Boxxer promoter Shalom does not believe the rehydration clause was as big a limiting factor, he wants the contracted rematch to be held at a higher weight division.
He told Sky Sports: “The rehydration clause is probably less dangerous than the 160lb limit now at this stage in his career. That’s where probably it’s the biggest challenge. As the organisers of the event, everyone has to be sensible as to how we approach the second fight. That probably was the one downer on the event, all the talk about the weight. And so I’m sure everyone will be sensible.”
Eubank Jr’s father, the legendary former boxer Chris Eubank Sr, had been a vocal critic of the weight, with Benn jumping up two divisions from welterweight for the fight.
While Eubank Sr made amends with his son on fight night, walking into the ring with Eubank Jr, the former two-division world champion has continued his comments about the weight on his YouTube channel.
Restarting, Shalom shared: “I think that would alleviate a lot of people’s concerns about the fight. I think everyone involved just wants the fighters to make as much money as they can but get out of the ring safely. That’s what’s boxing’s about and so anything that can increase the chances of that happening should be focused on.”
Shalom believes that by increasing the weight, Eubank Jr’s long-term health would be preserved. Reports currently suggest that a rematch, which was agreed in the contracts of the first bout, would be staged once again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, this time in September.
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Shalom continued: “We saw a very good fight, a very competitive fight but there were concerns around the challenge on Chris’s body. So no one wants to see that. We believe and we hope there’ll be discussions around that before we make the rematch. It was very competitive. I think Conor Benn proved himself at the weight that night. He was a serious competitor. He came in big and he looked comfortable.”
He added: “I think that’s why in the rematch there should be less talk about the weight. That was the only real concern of the whole event. Wouldn’t it be amazing to do it again because of the impact it had on the sport in this country, but everyone wants it to be as safe as possible for the fighters.”
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