Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn are preparing to write another chapter of their family rivalry, meeting at Wednesday’s official launch press conference for their highly anticipated rematch. The Ring: Unfinished Business is brought to fans by Riyadh Season, The Ring, SELA, Matchroom Boxing, and Boxxer and is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 15 inside London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, airing worldwide exclusively on DAZN.
Hosted by Jamie Ward, Wednesday’s official launch press conference was the first time Eubank Jr. and Benn were in the same space since their legendary initial encounter at the same venue in April in front of a sell-out crowd of 70,000. Eubank Jr. secured a thrilling unanimous decision victory in a leading candidate for Fight of the Year, while both fighters captured the attention of fans around the globe with their display of heart and action. The two were backed by their respective fighting fathers in April, Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn, and the elder Benn was by his son’s side once again on Wednesday. Eubank Sr. famously triumphed over Benn in their first of two encounters three decades earlier.
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Here is what the fighters and their teams had to say:
Chris Eubank Jr.
On the support he has gotten from fans in recent months
“What a crazy, crazy world we live in today. For my entire life as a professional fighter, I have been the villain and the bad guy. Fourteen years and 38 fights of people loving to hate me. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but from what I’m seeing online these days and the interactions I’m having with people all over the world in the streets, I don’t know if I’m that guy anymore. It’s not just boxing fans that are approaching me now: It’s little girls, elderly folk, housewives, and people that really have nothing to do with boxing, and they’re all greeting me and wishing me the best of luck. It’s humbling.”
On his opinion of Conor Benn and Eddie Hearn
“The funny thing is, if you speak to this side of the table, Eddie Hearn will tell you, as he told the world after the fight, that Conor Benn is, in fact, the people’s champ. I mean, wow– that’s incredible. Conor Benn, you did it, huh, kid? The people’s champ! One thing I know for sure is that Conor Benn put on a great fight. He went out there and he did what I did not expect him to do. But I’m going to tell you right here and now– you ain’t no champ. And you most definitely aren’t any people’s champ, so get that out of your head. If you keep letting Eddie Hearn blow smoke up your ass, then you’re going to end up being even more of an embarrassment than he is.These men are not men of the people– they are pretending. They are pretending to be the good guys. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, if you will. They will do anything they can. They will screw over anyone they can, they will cut any corners, they will break any rules they can to try and get ahead. Ruthless, immoral, and without restraint– these men are.”
On the obstacles he overcame before and after the last fight
“They did everything they could to try and destroy me in this last fight. Contract breaches, fines, rehydration clauses, a sabotaged weigh-in, biased commentating and refereeing– the list goes on, it’s endless. Even on fight night, they blocked my team from coming in for 30 minutes, and then when I arrived, they had security walking in front of my car, trying to slow me down and stall me to make me late. It’s incredible the levels these guys will stoop to. I finally get into the stadium and get into my changing room. I’m preparing– they’re sending idiots to try and disrupt me in my changing room. We get through that, I go out there, outside these walls, and I win the fight. Now, after the fight, due to severe dehydration, I’m put in an ambulance and I have to go to the hospital. I was actually so dehydrated that one of my toenails fell off– it’s grown back now about halfway but anyway… I’m in the ambulance and these scumbags blocked that ambulance from leaving the stadium for twenty minutes. I’m lying there, in a gurney, oxygen mask on, and the car cannot move– they will not open the gates to let us leave. Now if this was a serious injury I had sustained, those twenty minutes I was being blocked in could’ve been the difference between life and death. And while this was all happening, Conor Benn and Eddie Hearn were in here talking to the media, lying about how I had a broken jaw and that’s the reason I was going to the hospital. Bullshit artists, to the highest degree.”
What was Conor’s undoing in April?
“They keep talking about weight. He hasn’t fought at welterweight for nearly four years. How many times did you hear Terence Crawford talk about the weight divisions he’s coming up to fight Canelo, who’s fought at light heavyweight. And there were no rehydration clauses in that fight. So it’s pretty embarrassing the amount of times these guys talk about weight. It had nothing to do with the weight. I am the better, more experienced, and more dedicated fighter. That’s why he did not beat me and why he shall not beat me in November.”
What makes you laugh when you hear Conor Benn’s “old” comments?
“Old and vulnerable. The delusion of these guys is breathtaking. It really is. Yes, he caught me with a few shots, but it had nothing to do with his performance. The reason I was in the hospital was dehydration.”
What happens in the rematch?
“Again, parliamentary will be the procedure. The master will be the matador. This man (Benn) will be the bull. I’ll be holding my flag up, and he will be running around the ring, trying to employ all the new techniques and “oh I don’t want to go out there and wear my heart on my sleeve and wind my punches so I’m going to box and we’re going to have this strategy.” All of that stuff is going to go out the window as soon as that first little right hand connects on his chin. And after that, we’re going to have fun in there baby, like I always do. The procedure will be parliamentary, you will see.”
Conor Benn
What have you learned since the loss in April?
“It’s always hard processing the loss. Nobody prepares to lose. As fighters, we want to do our best but ultimately we want to get a victory at all costs. It’s taught me a lot about myself. I went back to the drawing board and work and gained experience. Experience was gained so no doubt on November 15 you’ll get a better version.”
Has your opinion about Chris Eubank Jr. changed?
“I take my hat off to him, because you need a dancing partner. And he was that to me. Did I underestimate him? I did. I genuinely thought I’d knock him out in three or four rounds, on my heart. That’s what I genuinely believed. So I underestimated him, but he gave me one hell of a fight and it was one hell of a fight. And I’m excited for the next time around, to be honest with you.”
What must you fix in the rematch?
“I worked extremely hard and have done the best I could. Ultimately it was a lack of discipline in that fight [the first]. You can’t prepare for the occasion or the emotions. After all, it’s my first fight back here in three years. It’s experience gained and lessons learned for me. I’m more disciplined, more calculated, but still with that ferocity and tenacity but less emotion.”
What did you mean by your comments, “bring your winter coat,” in the first fight?
“He thought it was going to be a walk in the park. That’s why he took the fight. There are plenty of names in his division and at this stage of his career, if he had ambitions of winning the world title…he thought it was going to be an easy fight and it turned out not quite so.”
How do you beat Chris Eubank Jr.?
“Less greed. I had him hurting there – when I thought I had him hurt – too greedy there looking for the headshot. The gameplan went out the window as soon as I hit him in the third round. It felt like I was always one punch away from closing it out. In some stages he looked old and I was too busy looking to hurt him instead of getting the win.”
What’s your final prediction?
“I’m not going to go in there and render him unconscious, as much as I’d like to. I’m going to go in there and do the best I can with what I can and be disciplined. I really want to use the experience and lessons learned from that first fight.”
Ben Shalom, Founder & CEO, BOXXER
How do you believe November 15 will compare to the first bout in April?
“I think the first fight brought popularity back to British boxing. It was the biggest night I’ve ever been involved in. It was a bigger fight after the fight thanks to these two warriors. It was a spectacle that demanded a rematch. It’s phenomenal that we managed to do it again in the same year, but this one will be even bigger. I think Chris Eubank Jr. and what happened, his story, and the hurdles he had to go through endeared him to the British public like I’ve never seen before from a British fighter. It really is the Chris Eubank Jr. show. I have to say, I’m really happy to see Brian McIntrye here. In all of the fights I’ve promoted with Chris, that rematch against Liam Smith was the most focused, the most dedicated, the best Chris Eubank Jr. I’ve seen. I think Chris will be doing it in even more emphatic fashion on November 15.”
Nigel Benn
What were your overwhelming feelings when you left Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April?
“I was actually alright about it. Chris put up a good fight, but to me, that was Conor at his worst. He was weighing punches in front, left, and right– not even thinking about what he was doing. Everything that we practiced for in the 12 weeks of training– he didn’t do one thing! Absolutely one thing. And he had him hurt so many times but yet, he kept on showing all the punches that he was going to throw. And I thought to myself, mate, that wasn’t even the real Conor, but I’m glad that he’s gone 12 rounds with a middleweight. And the funny thing about it, we all keep saying we made him struggle with the weight but Chris is the IBO Middleweight Champion. He fights at 160 all the time– his last four fights have been at 160, so why are we all saying he’s struggling at the weight? We’ll wait for November 15th when we see the real Conor– not running away, not lunging the punches in– taking his time, doing the best that I know he can do.
On Conor’s performance in the first fight
“That wasn’t the real Conor, and that’s why I’m happy that he’s gone 12 hard rounds and yet, he had him wobbling three or four times but didn’t know how to finish him because the occasion got to him. And he went in there. What got into Conor’s head? He kept on saying, ‘I’m going to take his head off, I’m going to take his head off.’ If he had said, like, you know what, ‘I’m gonna box him.’ He didn’t– he went in there thinking, ‘I’m going to take his head off.’ And that reminded me of the same when he fought the french guy, [Cedrick] Peynaud, who just wanted to go in and take his head off. Winging the punches in, I thought, ‘oh my gosh. He’s not going to win this.’ But I didn’t come away like, you know, upset– I just cuddled my son– didn’t say a word. And the funny thing is, the next day we went in the sauna, because Conor’s been giving me grief. He said, ‘Mate, if you took care of business, I wouldn’t have to do this.’ So then we got in the shower [sauna], and I left the door open, and he said, ‘Why are you leaving the door open?’ and he was really moaning at me, and I said, ‘Shut up, you loser!’ But we both laughed. [To his son] – And you lost! Now you’ve got to go and set the record straight. Don’t worry, mate, I’m going to keep reminding you of that until you get that victory.”
Brian McIntyre, Chris Eubank Jr.’s trainer
When did your involvement with Chris for this fight come about and what do you think of Conor Benn?
“How it came about was just by a phone call. After I watched the first fight, they called for the second fight. We tried to get together for the first fight, but the timing wasn’t right. When they called, it was a no-brainer. I’m just happy to be here and a part of a historical fight.”
How much better do you believe Chris can be?
“I’ll tell you what, and this isn’t a knock on them over there (Team Benn), I believe he’s (Benn) going to be a little bit easier this time, for the simple fact he’s (Eubank Jr.) already got his number. It’s hard to get away from it when someone has already beaten your ass. It’s hard because it’s already stuck in your head.”
Tony Sims, Conor Benn’s trainer
What didn’t go to plan with the game plan in April and what will be different this time around?
“The fight was a tremendous fight for the fans. Both boys put everything on the line and it was a great fight. I believe, and Conor knows this, he’s got to make adjustments to beat Chris the next time, but I believe Conor has got it in his locker to do that. I think he was too emotionally involved in that first fight. I believe there were a lot of firsts that happened to him. Obviously, his first fight up at middleweight. As we know, he’s a welterweight, and it was his first fight at middleweight. His first time topping a bill in a big stadium. And obviously his first loss. He’s got to overcome that, he’s got to make these adjustments, and I believe he will do that. I believe he will become victorious this time.”
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17 September 2025
Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
17 September 2025
Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
17 September 2025
Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
17 September 2025
Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
