LIKE a pyramid scheme, or booze at a party, or flyers on the Vegas strip, it will be forced on you. Whether you show any interest or not, it will be all they talk about at the start of this year and, when talking about it, they will have you convinced it’s what you want without you having any say in the matter. You’ll hear stuff like this: “It’s the fight the whole country has been waiting for.” Or this: “It’s been years in the making.” If you then dare to point out the black cloud hanging over it, which remains, or even the original issues pertaining to the difference in weight between the boxers, the sellers will laugh it off and tell you to cheer up. They will ask you, “Yeah, but don’t you remember the Nineties? Don’t you remember their old men? Benn? Eubank?”
Some, because they are suckers for nostalgia, easily persuaded, or simply exasperated, will give in and give the promoters exactly what they want. But that isn’t to say we all have to. In fact, with enough time having passed (this fight was originally scheduled for October 2022, remember), we should now have a fair idea of whether we want to see Conor Benn, son of Nigel, and Chris Eubank Jnr, son of Chris Snr, share a ring anytime soon.
They say it has grown bigger with time, but the truth is that it has grown only in terms of the controversy surrounding it. As an actual fight, the contest, if anything, has shrunk in magnitude and importance in the past 12 months. After all, not only has Benn, for obvious reasons, been inactive (fighting only once since April 2022), but Eubank Jnr found himself stopped in four rounds by Liam Smith last January and, despite reversing that loss in his next fight, has shown signs of possible regression. In short, while this fight was never exactly hot per se, it is now, as a competitive spectacle, about as cold as it can possibly get. Yes, Benn is back in some capacity, and yes, Eubank Jnr won his last fight, but time, alas, has not been kind to either man.
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