10 hours ago
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Chris Eubank Jr narrowly beat bitter foe Conor Benn as one of Britain's most rancorous and long-running boxing rivalries lived up to the hype at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Both fighters showed wild aggression, taking the centre of the ring and letting their hands go in a 12-round edge-of-your-seat firefight.
Neither boxer could land the telling blow but it was the experience of Eubank, 35, which prevailed as all three judges scored it 116-112.
He claims bragging rights in a family feud which began 35 years ago when their legendary fathers first fought.
"I knew I could do that, I just needed someone to bring that out of me and I didn't think that he would be the guy to do that," Eubank said.
In a sensational plot twist, Eubank arrived at the venue alongside his father, Chris Eubank Sr. The pair had supposedly been estranged for years and Eubank Sr had criticised the match-up.
"I'm happy to have this man [Eubank Sr] back with me. We upheld the family name - onwards and upwards," Eubank added.
The heartwarming reconciliation seemingly gave Eubank a boost as he extended his record to 35 wins in 38 fights.
In a result which could have easily gone either way, Benn, 28, loses for the first time in 24 professional fights.
"I felt like it was a close fight. I'm not going to say 'yeah I should have won that' - I've got to watch it back. It was close," he said.
The boxers signed a two-fight deal and, after putting on such a show, could contest a rematch later this year.
The grudge match was two and a half years in the making, ever since Benn failed two drug tests and a scheduled fight in 2022 was cancelled.
With a lack of transparency behind the reasons for his doping offence, he was given a villain's welcome.
Jeers reverberated around the stadium as he walked with his father, Nigel Benn, and a choir sang 'Ready or Not' by Fugees.
Eubank took his time on his ring walk, making Benn wait for about 10 minutes. He too was joined by his father to the tune of Tina Turner's 'Simply the Best' - a song which the legend Eubank Sr walked out to in his heyday.
The 65,000 sell-out crowd erupted when Nigel Benn and Eubank Sr shared a hug before the first bell. The 'wall of sound' South Stand amplified the already ear-splitting pandemonium, and a sea of camera lights added to the spectacle.
But the bloodline rivalry, doping scandal and egg slap all led to their sons, nobody else, standing face-to-face inside a boxing ring.
Benn loaded up with every punch from the opening bell and wobbled Eubank with a left hook in the third.
Although he is notoriously a slow starter, Eubank seemed to be struggling with the pace.
Actor Idris Elba, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and England footballers Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice sprinkled some celebrity stardust as a trademark Eubank uppercut squeezed through Benn's low guard in the fourth.
The pair were told to buck up their ideas by the referee as they began talking to each other during the middle of the rounds.
Eubank looked weight-drained in fight week after he was hampered by a rehydration clause which limited his weight gain. He was breathing heavily at the end of round five.
Benn - who moved up two divisions from welterweight - had landed the more eye-catching shots in the first half of the fight.
"It's too easy," Eubank told Benn as he began to claw his way back into the contest.
Eubank Sr left his front-row seat to join his son's corner after Eubank Jr was cut above the right eye in a clash of heads.
A flurry of punches in the 11th earned the approval of a nodding Eubank Sr.
There was a touch of gloves before the final round. After everything these two had been through, there was a smidgen of respect.
A ferocious, sustained attack by Eubank in the 12th ended the classic all-British contest, one which will live long in the memory of all those in attendance.
Eubank proved he is not yet done, while Benn showed he can mix it at a decent level.
After serving up such a delight - one full of drama and a will to win from both men - the clamouring for a rematch will be too loud to ignore.
