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At 35 years old, Chris Eubank Jr’s career is still missing something. Well into his prime years having been involved in some significant domestic battles at the top of British boxing, he has still never fought for a major world title.
Defeats to Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves earlier in his career derailed once promising title hopes and while there have been major victories since then, he is no closer to becoming a world champion than he was back then. Perhaps most tellingly, Eubank Jr has been soundly beaten on occasions where he has joined world level opponents in the ring.
Saturday’s meeting with Conor Benn serves as one of the biggest domestic fights in recent memory, one doused in very genuine hatred with the family names ensuring it is another significant chapter in the history of British boxing.
There is huge personal motivation for both men but there is no world title waiting for the winner. While there has been the promise of a shot at super-middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez for the winner, the Mexican superstar is a level above both men.
George Groves was one of the men to outclass Eubank Jr when they met in 2018, easing past the Brighton fighter despite suffering a serious shoulder injury in the contest.
While understanding Eubank J’s decision to keep himself available for a lucrative payday against Benn, Groves suggests time standing still in the middleweight and super-middleweights divisions will ultimately cost Eubank Jr in his bid to replicate his father’s world title success.
‘With Eubank Jr, he’s never going to win a world title. The champions at his weight currently are too good,’ Groves told Metro.
‘He hasn’t had a normal roll of the dice compared to other fighters. If you’re going to be offered £10million to fight a welterweight who’s never fought for a world title, then you’re not going to turn that down.
‘Going into the tournament against me, there was a lot to gain. I can see why he took that fight, but since then, he hasn’t really chased belts, he’s chased fame and fortune. To be fair to him, it’s worked.
‘As a prize fighter, you want a bit of everything. You’d love to be the people’s champion, the world champion, rich, popular and famous, but sometimes you can’t have it all. If you’re forced to make a choice, Eubank has chosen the money route and fair play to him.
‘I’d imagine he’s purposefully sat on the shelf for now, done some other business and ensured he’s as free of an agent as he can be, so he could take on the Benn fight. Maybe he plans to fight him more than once if it’s a dramatic fight? They could do it again, for sure. ‘
While all involved are keen to build the reboot of the Benn vs Eubank rivalry into another saga across two or even three fights, repercussions in defeat for both men will be huge.
Is Chris Eubank Jr's chin still there?
‘He has a decent chin, but it’s never really been tested. People said he had a great chin because his dad had one. You have to get hit a lot to be thinking, wow, they’ve got a good chin.
‘I can’t think of a shot against him in his career where I’ve thought, wow, that would have knocked anyone else out.
‘He’s probably got a pretty good chin, but then it wasn’t in his first fight against Smith. The chin can fail you, and that wasn’t a particularly big shot that unravelled him. It was just a clipping, cuffing shot, and his legs betrayed him.
‘That being said, he might have had something wrong building up to that fight. Whether it was a virus, he crashed the weight or if his mind just wasn’t on the job.
‘If I’m Conor Benn, I’m thinking, I’ve seen him get beat and get knocked out. Why would I have any doubt about doing the same?’
Former world champion George Groves speaking to Metro
‘If he doesn’t win this, he’s pretty much ruined,’ Groves said, speaking to Metro on behalf of Casino.co.uk.
‘There isn’t enough money in the world that could cushion that blow of losing to Conor Benn. I think he’ll be well up for it.’
The stakes are equally high for Benn. A thrilling run of victories that was sparked by a demolition job on Samuel Vargas in 2021 had him emerging as the next star of British boxing, exhibiting the ferocious power and vibrant personality to match the family name.
His world was rocked after two failed drug tests led to the Eubank Jr fight being initially postponed three years ago.
Given everything that has happened since, any sort of emphatic defeat to the man he has he has grown to hate could leave his place in the sport uncertain.
‘It’ll be tough for him to come back,’ Groves said of Benn.
‘It all comes down to his desire to box. He’s never going to have a fight as big as this one, and if Eubank wins and there’s no clamour for a rematch, or Eubank calls it a day, then Benn will obviously want to continue boxing as a young man.
‘He’ll still hold value as a big name, but the best fighters will look at him and want to pick him off. People will be on his back; people already are on his back after the drug test scandal.
‘It’ll be tough for him if he loses. He’s gone all in with this fight, but maybe realistically, if anyone was given this option, they probably would take it too. It’s too big and there’s too much on the line.’
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