Eddie Hearn insists Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn II is just as big as their fathers’ iconic rematch in October 1993, when a bitter rivalry culminated in one of the biggest ever fights in British boxing history.
Then aged 14, Hearn was a ringside spectator for the controversial draw between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank in a world super middleweight title unification clash at Old Trafford, Manchester, England.
Hearn’s dad Barry promoted Eubank and organised the 1993 rematch, but Eddie is in the opposite corner now as promoter of Nigel’s son Conor (23-1, 14 KOs), who faces Eubank (35-3, 25 KOs) in a non-title middleweight bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
The English rivals are meeting again following an absorbing first fight in April, which Eubank Jr. deservedly won by unanimous scores (116-112 on all three scorecards), also at Tottenham, London.
Eubank Jr’s win, following a spiteful build-up, was the biggest fight in the U.K. this year — but is it as significant as the 1993 rematch?
“I think it is as big,” Hearn told ESPN.
“I think the first fight between Conor and Eubank Jr well exceeded expectations in terms of entertainment and its quality. It was two world class boxers letting their emotions take over them and have a war and everyone loved it. You will see the same fight, I think both will try to be a little bit smarter in this fight. But Conor Benn is Conor Benn, he’s his father’s son, and he’s not going to change really in that respect.
“The only thing that is missing is a world championship, because two were on the line in 1993. It was also on ITV and the way people watched boxing was different back then but the whole country is going to stop and watch Benn Eubank again. We will have 60,000 again and how often do you see that? I tease my old man [Barry Hearn] that his 42,000 in 1993 was nice but I have gazumped him a few times.”
Despite Hearn’s claim over the live gate, more tuned in to see the 1993 rematch live — it was watched in over 60 countries, with a global audience reportedly reaching half a billion — than they will on Saturday. Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Carl Froch, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have all attracted huge audiences.
But none of them were watched by an official live audience greater than the 16.5 million that tuned in on free-to-air ITV in the U.K. to see Eubank vs. Benn II. It was a significantly higher number than the pay-per-view audience (under 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 foggy and unforgettable night in Manchester, and there was huge anticipation for it,” Hearn told ESPN.
“My dad was Eubank’s best man and they have both said in interview, I would take a bullet for this man, and that’s how close they were. But I was a little bit of a secret Nigel Benn fan. They sent me his jacket once, really cool and I watched him fight Iran Barkley and thought he was unbelievable. But I was Team Eubank.
“These stadium shows are carnage but back then Matchroom had five or six employees and that was across the whole business, now we have got 40 in the UK just for boxing. The shows now are run with military precision but back then it was just wild with people jumping in restricted areas, tickets here, tickets there, and it was a wild old night.”
Following Eubank’s Round 9 stoppage win over Benn in 1990, their rivalry intensified as their fame grew. By the time they met again in 1993, Eubank and Benn were among the most famous sports stars in the U.K.
While Eubank claimed he did not hate Benn, Benn was not so cordial.
“I personally do hate the man,” Benn said.
There was huge demand to see a rematch — and they got paid handsomely for agreeing a deal: Benn got £1 million ($1.32m) and Eubank £850,000, according to reports at the time.
Even US-based Don King, who promoted the likes of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson among others, got involved in the 1993 rematch, as well as Frank Warren, who was Barry Hearn’s UK promotional rival.
“I remember Don King came in as a partner for the show and then brought Frank Warren in as his partner,” Hearn told ESPN.
“So if you can imagine my dad is staging this show and he is bringing Don King in for the US money and then Don King turns around and says I’m bringing my partner in Frank Warren, my dad’s biggest rival. They didn’t speak to each other it was that bad. Part of the deal was Don King had options on the winner of the fight — but it was a draw. It was one of the funniest things to have 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, a bit of anticlimax, and most people thought Nigel Benn should have won it. They should have had the trilogy fight, but they both went their separate ways, did big fights against other opponents. That was the biggest night my dad has promoted and he was lucky to get the draw that night.”
The rematch was not as good as the thrilling first encounter for the WBO world middleweight title in 1990. The last round was good, but the fight was mostly a tactical affair that most thought Benn should have won.
Both kept their belts after a split decision draw. “Eu Robbers” was the headline in the UK-based Daily Mirror newspaper. If Benn, who was not even born in 1993, is going to get revenge for his family, he will have to pull off an upset vs. Eubank on Saturday, after jumping up two weight classes to face his English rival earlier this year.
Benn, 29, has fewer expectations on him than Eubank, 36, according to Hearn, who expects the Essex-based boxer to progress to a world title shot at welterweight or junior middleweight later this year, whether he wins or not on Saturday.
“There’s an expectancy of that when Conor is going to move back to welterweight he is probably going to fight for the world title anyway,” Hearn told ESPN.
“So, I feel that Conor has got nothing to lose but if Eubank gets beat … Terence Crawford would be catastrophic mismatch for Eubank Jr.
It has been mentioned Eubank Jr could fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, or Hamzah Sheeraz, but if he gets beat by Conor he can’t go into those fights. The only thing he can do if he loses is try and force the trilogy fight, which is not contracted. But Conor could get the win, then move down to 147 pounds and fight IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker, or fight WBC champion Mario Barrios, and then maybe move to 154 and fight Abass Baraou [WBA world junior middleweight champion].
“Eubank is obviously the favourite but we are sneakily confident. We just feel we are going to come on the blindside and turn him over and then we have got the keys to the kingdom.”
Following the 1993 rematch, Nigel went on to win five more world title fights, including the biggest win of his career vs. Gerald McClellan in 1995.
Eubank won more (and also lost more) than Benn following their rematch, but his best days were before their rematch with wins over Benn and Michael Watson.
