Eddie Hearn believes Chris Eubank Jr. will retire after losing to Conor Benn on Saturday night in the return leg, which will take place on November 15 in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
(Source: Matthew Pover Matchroom Boxing)
Mind games before fight night
Hearn believes that Eubank Jr. (35-3, 25 KO) has been through a lot physically in his career, as well as “a lot of arduous nights.” However, it is doubtful whether he only says this in the hope that Eubank Jr. will hear this statement and start to doubt himself enough for Benn (23-1, 14 KO) to gain the advantage.
Is Hearn really worried about Eubank Jr. or is he just playing psychological chess to unnerve him before fight night? This appears to be fraudulent on Hearn’s part, a mind trick to make Eubank Jr. he will start to worry about himself. It’s definitely a tricky approach, but Benn has a lot to gain if he wins this fight. His popularity will escalate and he will earn good money if he is offered a fight with Canelo Alvarez or Terence Crawford.
Eubank Jr-Benn 2 will perform this Saturday on DAZN PPV in a rematch taking place on April 26, 2025. Chris Jr. won this fight by unanimous decision lasting 12 rounds, with scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 116-112.
If anyone should be considering retirement, it’s 29-year-old Benn, in the truest sense of the word. He was the one who lost last time and didn’t look impressive. The way he fought, it seemed like he would have lost to the top guys at 147, 154 and 160.
What happens if Benn loses again?
What will happen to Benn’s credibility if he loses to the same opponent again? If Eubank Jr. flogs him again on Saturday night, it will be disastrous for Conor’s popularity and reputation. A knockout loss would mean Benn would revert to 147 pounds under unfavorable conditions.
He cannot be compared to Vergil Ortiz Jr., Jaron “Boots” Ennis or Brian Norman Jr. and expect him to beat any of these fighters. Defeated by Eubank Jr. showed that Benn didn’t have the talent to be a top fighter at 160-147 pounds.
“It was his first real fight under those lights. He came back after a year and a half of inactivity,” said Eddie Hearn iFL Televisionexplaining why Conor Benn lost to Chris Eubank Jr. in April last year. “I expect him to be much better.
Hearn Banking in a better Benn
Hearn is hopeful that Benn will feel better, but there’s nothing to base that opinion on considering he hasn’t fought since his loss to Eubank Jr. in April last year. The only way someone can claim to be better is to fight someone to demonstrate improvement.
“Eubank is a tough, stubborn man and he’s not going to make it uncomplicated for us. I just think we beat him this time,” Hearn said. “It’s going to be another brutal fight. I really believe we’ll win on Saturday and we’ll do it in style.”
Hearn’s dream would be to beat Eubank Jr on Saturday. Can Benn’s victory revive his career, which has stalled since April’s defeat? A win for Benn would open the door to fights with these names:
Canelo Alvarez
Terence Crawford
Jaron Ennis
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Sebastian Fundor
Errol Spence
Jermell Charlo
Jake Paul
Manny Pacquiao
Ryan Garcia
Devin Haney
The number of fights that would be available and offered to Conor Benn if he beats Eubank Jr. is almost limitless. He is still teenage and has a huge fan base among British fans thanks to his eminent father, Nigel Benn. He would probably lose to most of the fighters listed above, but could beat some of the smaller guys. The amount he will receive will be significant.
If Eubank Jr. will be fighting like he did last April, it’s going to be a long night at the office for Benn as he doesn’t have enough offensive power to keep up with a fighter of his type without getting gassed.
“I truly believe this will be Chris Eubank Jr’s last fight on Saturday. I think he had a lot of abrasive nights. I know there are a lot of people on his team who want him to retire,” Hearn said.
If Eubank Jr. will win again and look like gold, there will be no reason to retire. If Eubank Jr. refuses to retire, where will he go next in a crowded 160-pound environment? He will probably move up to super middleweight to make it easier for him to make weight. Additionally, this division has the biggest payouts against the following fighters:
Canelo Alvarez
Terence Crawford
Diego Pachecho
Eubank Jr. refuses to talk about retirement
Eubank Jr. he already said during Tuesday’s Grand Arrivals gala that he plans to continue fighting after Saturday’s rematch with Benn. So Hearn might as well forget about his hopes that Eubank Jr. will retire. He’s not going anywhere because he has bigger wells to dig against Canelo and Crawford that will be trucking in oil, causing mega-million dollar fights.
Oleksandr Usyk has shared his reaction to Anthony Joshua‘s dramatic knockout victory against Kristian Prenga.
Usyk nearly suffered his own shock defeat in May when he was pushed to the limit by kickboxing star Rico Verhoevenand two months on it was nrw teammate Joshua’s turn to come close to a massive upset loss that would have stunned the heavyweight division.
The Brit was dropped twice by massive underdog Prenga in the opening round of their clash in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but ‘AJ’ managed to recover and record a big knockdown of his own in the second round that resulted in the stoppage victory.
Joshua and Usyk now train together, having famously had two battles for the unified world heavyweight title in 2021 and 2022, and the Ukrainian has had his say on his stablemate’s victory over Prenga.
Speaking to TalkSporttwo-time undisputed champion Usyk praised Joshua, insisting ‘AJ is back’ before predicting that Joshua will now claim a knockout win over long-term rival Tyson Fury in his next bout.
“Anthony Joshua is next undisputed champion. First round it’s a test but AJ is back.
It’s boxing, [the] big upper cut is good, it’s a knockdown. AJ [come] back and win.
“Greedy Belly [Fury] will speak now and say weak chin, Greedy Belly get out. AJ wins [against Fury], [he will] knock him out.”
Fury was victorious on Friday as he earned a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach in Thailand, paving the way for the showdown against Joshua later this year.
Jake Paul was the last man to fight Anthony Joshua and he has now revealed his verdict on AJ’s chaotic victory over Kristian Prenga.
Joshua went up against Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturdayin a clash that was expected to be a comfortable win for the former world heavyweight champion in order to set up the long overdue battle against Tyson Fury.
Any hopes of seeing that clash were nearly ended after AJ was dropped twice in the opening round of the bout, though he was able to recover and claim the second round knockout to come out on top and prevent a stunning shock upset from taking place.
Saturday’s outing saw Joshua back in the ring for the first time since his sixth round triumph over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul back in Decemberand now ‘The Problem Child’ himself has shared his reaction to his former rival’s victory over Prenga.
Posting on social mediaPaul praised AJ for earning the win, after returning to action following the tragic car crash he was involved in at the end of last year which took the lives of his two close friends.
“Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through. Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.”
Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through.
Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 25, 2026
The win for Joshua should now tee up for meeting with Fury later this year, after ‘The Gypsy King’ held up his end of the bargain by also securing a win in his warm-up bout on Friday, securing a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach.
Anthony Joshua may have earned a knockout win over Kristian Prenga but the fight certainly didn’t unfold as most people expected.
Joshua was facing the Albanian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and it looked like a massive upset could be on the cards when he was dropped twice in the opening round.
‘AJ’ was able to recover and went on to secure a second round knockout victory to prevent the shock lossseemingly paving the way for the battle against Tyson Fury later this year.
One man who was ringside to witness the battle was former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellewand he praised Joshua’s ability to turn things around in the fight after describing it as ‘chaos’.
“We predicted round two but I don’t think we foresaw that. That was chaos. He doesn’t see the uppercut coming and finds himself on the floor without knowing how he got there.
“The second one he did see it coming and he was able to clench down on the jaw. He got up and then the experience that he has he used tonight because he tied him up. Against Andy Ruiz he didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t know how to do that, but tonight he did.
“He showed once again there is no quit. To be that hurt in the first round and get up, that’s the recoveries of power. People talk about your chin, but it’s not, it’s the level of fitness that gets you up from the floor.
“When Joshua gets a fighter hurt he’s the best finisher in the division. Whenever he hurts someone they’re gone. I haven’t seen him drop anybody and they survive, only Andy Ruiz. He’s a ruthless finisher.”
The clash between Joshua and Fury is now expected to be announced soon for later this year, after Fury won his own interim fight on Friday by defeating Mariusz Wach.
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