Oscar De La Hoya has had his say on Chris Eubank Jr.‘s incredible battle with bitter rival Conor Benn.
After they were originally due to lock horns in October 2022, the domestic rivals finally clashed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on April 26, producing one of the most entertaining and competitive fights on British soil over recent years.
It was all-action from the first bell until the last, with both fighters trading heavy shots throughout the highly anticipated middleweight contest. Despite Benn’s relentless approach, Eubank appeared to be the more composed of the two as he outlanded ‘The Destroyer’ by a significant margin.
All three judges scored the contest 116-112 in favour of Eubank, although many fans and analysts have argued that the cards should have been a lot closer.
Speaking to Seconds Out, De La Hoya gave an honest assessment of the domestic battle, as he claims ‘boxing won’ after such an entertaining contest.
“I was pleasantly surprised of how intense it was, every single round. I was very happy, happy for the sport, happy for both fighters, and this is exactly what I’ve been talking about, when you fight hard you don’t lose, there’s no loser. If you fight soft, then you lose, you take the L, but if you fight hard, you both win. And we had both winners, and boxing won.”
In a seperate interview with IFL TV, De La Hoya revealed that he leaned towards Benn winning upon the final bell.
“I did think Benn might’ve pulled it off. He was aggressive, he was moving forward. Who knows exactly what happened with the scorecards … We had no loser.”
It has already been revealed that a rematch could be set to take place in September, however Eubank’s side have said they may want to renegotiate the pre-agreed terms.
