Eddie Hearn insists the Chris Eubank Jr. fight with Conor Benn II is as vital as their fathers’ iconic rematch in October 1993, when a fierce rivalry culminated in one of the greatest fights in British boxing history.
At the age of 14, Hearn was a ringside spectator at the controversial draw between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank in their super middleweight world title unification bout at Ancient Trafford in Manchester, England.
Hearn’s dad Barry promoted Eubank and arranged a rematch in 1993, but Eddie is now on the opposite side as promoter of Nigel’s son Conor (23-1, 14 KO), who will face Eubank (35-3, 25 KO) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday in a non-title middleweight fight.
The English rivals meet again after a thrilling first fight in April between Eubank Jr. deservedly won by unanimous scores (116-112 on all three scorecards), also in Tottenham, London.
Eubank Jr’s victory, after a malicious boost, was the biggest fight in Britain this year – but is it as significant as the 1993 rematch?
“I think it’s just as large,” Hearn told ESPN.
“I think the first fight between Conor and Eubank Jr far exceeded expectations in terms of entertainment and quality. They were two world-class boxers who let their emotions take over and fought a war and everyone loved it. You will see the same fight, I think both of them will try to be a little smarter in this fight. But Conor Benn is Conor Benn, he is his father’s son and he won’t really change in that respect.”
“The only thing missing is the world championship because in 1993 there were two fighters involved. It was also on ITV and the way people watched boxing was different back then, but the whole country will stop and watch Benn Eubank again. We’ll have 60,000 again and how often do you see that? I’m teasing my venerable man [Barry Hearn] that his 42,000 in 1993 was not bad, but I looked at him several times.”
Despite Hearn claiming there would be a larger live broadcast than Saturday, the 1993 rematch was watched live – it was watched in over 60 countries, with a global audience reportedly reaching half a billion. Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Carl Froch, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua attracted huge audiences.
However, none of them were watched by an official live audience larger than the 16.5 million who tuned in on free-to-air ITV in the UK to see Eubank vs. Benn II. This was a much larger number than the pay-per-view audience (less than a million) for the WBC world heavyweight fight between Lewis and Bruno a week earlier in 1993, which was also watched by a smaller gate (25,000) in Cardiff, Wales.
“It was a hazy and forgettable night in Manchester, so the anticipation was huge,” Hearn told ESPN.
“My dad was Eubank’s best man and they both said in an interview: I would take a bullet for that man and they were so close. But I was a bit of a secret Nigel Benn fan. They sent me his jacket once, it was really chilly and I saw him fight Iran Barkley and I thought he was unbelievable. But I was on Team Eubank.”
“Those stadium shows were carnage, but back then Matchroom had five or six employees and that was the whole company, now we have 40 in the UK just for the boxes. Now the shows are run with military precision, but back then it was just crazy, people jumping in confined areas, tickets here, tickets there and it was a crazy venerable night.”
After Eubank’s 9th round victory over Benn in 1990, their rivalry intensified as their fame grew. By the time they reunited in 1993, Eubank and Benn were among the most famed sports stars in Britain
Although Eubank claimed not to hate Benn, Benn was not so cordial.
“I personally hate this man,” Benn said.
There was huge interest in a rematch, and they were paid handsomely for agreeing to the deal: Benn received £1 million ($1.32 million) and Eubank £850,000, according to reports at the time.
Even Don King, who lived in the USA and promoted, among others, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, as well as Frank Warren, who was Barry Hearn’s promotional rival in Great Britain, got involved in the rematch in 1993.
“I remember Don King was a partner on the show and then he hired Frank Warren as his partner,” Hearn told ESPN.
“So if you can imagine my dad putting on this show and bringing in Don King for American money, and then Don King turns around and says I’m taking my partner, Frank Warren, my dad’s biggest rival. They weren’t talking to each other, it was that bad. Part of the deal was that Don King had options on the winner of the fight – but it was a draw. That was one of the funniest things that happened, but if Eubank had won, he would have gone to Don King and Frank Warren.”
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“It wasn’t a bad fight, it was a bit tense and most people thought Nigel Benn should have won it. They should have had a trilogy fight but they both went their separate ways, had great fights against different opponents. That was the highlight of the night with my dad stepping up and he was lucky to get the draw that night.”
The rematch was not as good as the first stimulating fight for the WBO middleweight world title in 1990. The final round was good, but the fight was mainly a tactical matter and most felt that Benn should have won it.
Both retained their belts after a split draw. “Eu Robbers” was the headline of the British newspaper Daily Mirror. If Benn, who wasn’t even born in 1993, wants revenge on his family, he will have to fight Eubank on Saturday after jumping two weight classes to face his English rival earlier this year.
According to Hearn, Benn, 29, has lower expectations of him than Eubank, 36, who expects the Essex boxer to advance to a welterweight or junior middleweight world title later this year, whether he wins on Saturday or not.
“You can expect that when Conor returns to welterweight, he will probably be fighting for the world title anyway,” Hearn told ESPN.
“So I feel like Conor has nothing to lose, but if Eubank gets beat… Terence Crawford would be a disastrous mismatch for Eubank Jr.
It was mentioned that Eubank Jr could fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Hamzah Sheeraz, but if he is defeated by Conor, he will be ineligible for those fights. The only thing he can do if he loses is try to force a trilogy fight that isn’t contracted. But Conor could win and then move down to 147 pounds and fight IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker or fight WBC champion Mario Barrios and then maybe move up to 154 and fight Abass Baraou [WBA world junior middleweight champion].
“Eubank is obviously the favorite but we are sneakily confident. We just feel like we will go in blind and turn it upside down and then we will have the keys to the kingdom.”
After the 1993 rematch, Nigel won five consecutive world title fights, including the biggest victory of his career against Gerald McClellan in 1995.
Eubank won more (and lost more) than Benn after the rematch, but his best days were before the rematch, when he won against Benn and Michael Watson.
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