Conor Benn sounds more and more certain that his proposed September 20 rematch with Chris Eubank Jr won’t be happening, saying that Eubank Jr is “scared.”
“It is disappointing because as a professional, you’ve got to be ready to go whenever. We knew September 20 was the date,” Benn told Sky Sports.
“Turki Alalshikh announced (the rematch) in the ring straight after the fight. How can you not be ready to go within a five-month period? It’s been three months since the fight. I’ve stayed in the gym, I’ve stayed ready.
I was ready to go in July, August. So September, I’m ready to go.”
Asked if he’s lost respect for Eubank, Benn said there wasn’t much to lose.
“I wouldn’t say there’s been a lot of respect anyway, personally. I don’t like him,” he said. “He thought I was going to be an easy touch, which is why he fought a welterweight. So is there much respect there? Not really. But ultimately, I’m ready to honor my side of the agreement, which was a two-fight deal.
“It’s safe to say he’s scared. He almost lost — it could have gone either way, to a welterweight.”
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn told The Stomping Ground that he isn’t even sure Chris Eubank Jr will fight again.
“If you think about it, what is he, 35, 36, right? He loves his life. He’s made a nice few quid. He spent four days in that fight after hospital,” Hearn said. “You know if Eubank fights Conor Benn again, it is going to be an all-out, trenches war. Do you want to go through that again?”
“Maybe you just don’t want to put yourself through that anymore! Which is fine, you have to respect that. But we know what you signed up for. If you’re swerving the fight, swerve the fight, it’s not a problem.”
Another promoter, Kalle Sauerland, has proposed Eubank Jr’s cousin, Harlem Eubank, as a replacement opponent. Harlem is a welterweight, but Benn has been training as a middleweight, too, and the proposed date is two months away. Harlem doesn’t have anywhere near the name value or status of his cousin, but Benn (23-1, 14 KO) will have to fight someone, and as much as that will want to, so that he can try to cash in on the first good momentum he’s had in his career and in the PR department in quite some time, following the drawn-out controversy of his failed drug tests.
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