Chris Eubank Jr. claimed bragging rights in his all-British clash with Conor Benn.
The two men finally went toe to toe at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London following nearly three years of build up, and after 12 hard-fought rounds it was Eubank Jr who came out on top.
All three judges scored the bout 116-112 in his favour, after an eventful evening that saw Eubank Senior in attendance to support his son, with Nigel also there to back Conor, over 30 years after the two fathers had met themselves twice in the 1990s.
After sharing the ring with Conor for 36 minutes, Eubank Jr revealed in his post-fight interview exactly what he thought of his rival’s power, admitting that he didn’t expect Benn to hit as hard as he did.
“Everything surprised me. I didn’t know he had what he had in him. I really didn’t. I thought I would break him early. I underestimated him. I didn’t train for a fight like that. I didn’t know he had that in him, he’s never had that in him.
“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t expect he’d the the guy to do that. The fact our fathers did what they did all those years ago, it brings out a different soul and a different spirit, that’s what we both showed here tonight.
I pushed through. There’s a lot of things that have been going on in my life that I’m not going to get in my life, I’m happy to have this man [my dad] back with me. Onwards and upwards. It was one of those things that was special. He needed to be here. All of this is because of what he did. We did it again.”
A two-way rematch clause was in the contract for the fight, meaning the two men could well do battle for a second time later this year.
