14 January 2023 , 20:00
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Chris Eubank Jr won’t know whether to listen to his heart or his head if Conor Benn is cleared to fight him again any time soon.
Benn is desperately trying to prove his innocence after the failed drugs test which saw their October fight canned. And last week, Benn’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said his man had told him he wants a clash with Gervonta Davis, Manny Pacquiao, Kell Brook or Eubank Jr for his first fight back.
But asked if he would be willing to give Benn an opportunity straight away after everything that has happened, Eubank told Mirror Fighting : “As a businessman, I would say, ‘Absolutely’.
Eubank Jr was meant to fight Benn in October 2022 in a money-spinning contest (Leigh Dawney/Getty Images)“As a boxer, as somebody who is trying to grow their profile and capture the public’s imagination and be an entertainer, yes, of course I’d give him a shot. Now, on the flip-side, as someone who loves the sport of boxing and as someone who wants kids coming up in the sport to know what’s right and wrong and lead by example, he should be banned. So I’m kind of in a strange position where my head wants the fight — I want to get my revenge for what he put me through, for the disrespect — but my heart says he should be banned for the maximum amount you can ban someone for doing what he did.”
Eubank admits his popularity has soared more from not fighting Benn than it would have done had he beaten him. He added: “I see it every day, people saying, ‘I was Team Benn, I wanted you to get knocked out a couple of months ago, but now if you guys do ever fight I’m going to be cheering for you’. That type of fanfare, I couldn’t have ever got that from fighting and beating him. The Benn fans would have stayed Benn fans after he’d lost.
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“They probably would have just hated me even more. But now a large percentage of those guys have switched over and it’s crazy to think I’ve gained more fans than I would have if I’d fought him. I see it online, people saying I’m the good guy now. That’s what has happened and I’m actually interested to see if I get cheered or booed into the Manchester Arena.”
You’d have thought that, if ever Eubank was going to get cheered into a ring, it would be fighting a Scouser in Manchester, as he does Liam Smith on Saturday, January 21. But he said: “Liam is saying he has a lot of fans in Manchester, he’s saying north versus south and the crowd is going to be behind him. He’s very confident so we’ll find out.”
Smith is confident that Eubank won’t be as tough a fight as those he faced against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Jaime Munguia. But Eubank added: “He’s going to say anything he can to try to put me down or ruffle my feathers. I’m not looking at any of his past opponents, I know what I am and I know what he is, more importantly. I’m going to go up there and take him out.”