CHRIS EUBANK JR ended his three-year war of words with Conor Benn with 36 minutes of frantic violence.
In a 12-round slugfest that left both men exhausted and swinging for the Spurs rafters, the bitter rivalry was brought to a close by a brutal battle.
Eubank won via unanimous decision[/caption]
All three judges scored 116-112 in Eubank’s favour[/caption]
Benn looked devastated after the loss[/caption]
Eubank suffered a nasty cut above his right eye in the ninth round[/caption]
A gash opened up following a clash of heads[/caption]
The pair met after two-and-a-half years of waiting[/caption]
The fight became a slugfest from the eighth round on[/caption]
Benn was shattered by carrying around an extra 20lbs after moving up from welterweight and Eubank was wrecked after melting off a similar amount in the build-up.
All the skill, technique, game plans and mind games went out of the window and the pair attacked each other as much as they possibly could, from the opening bell until the final second.
Eubank was buzzed and hurt a handful of times but – willed on by the shock last-minute arrival of his dad – he showed incredible grit, heart and chin to stay upright and get his hand raised.
The Eubank vs Benn family rivalry – started by fathers Nigel and Chris Sr, who were both at ringside, is now settled at 2-0 with one draw and does not need a greedy rematch.
Benn and his dad made their ring walk together at 10pm to a muted welcome that seemed to fall flat but when he reached the ring he got boos and whistles.
Eubank emerged to his dad’s trademark Tina Turner ‘Simply the Best’ anthem and it seemed to win the crowd over, after they also jeered his initial intro.
And when he leapt over the top rope – like a chip off the old block – the north London crowd boomed for him.
Before the bell, Benn practised vicious combinations from the crouched orthodox stance his dad was famous for, while Eubank Jr stood in his corner barely moving.
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Punch stats
EUBANK – BENN
TOTAL PUNCHES: 912 – 593
PUNCHES LANDED: 367 – 215
% PUNCHES LANDED: 40% – 36%
EUBANK BENN
Punches – Landed – % Landed
Rd 1 48 14 29% – 25 7 28%
Rd 2 59 16 27% – 32 10 31%
Rd 3 43 18 42% – 33 10 30%
Rd 4 49 21 43% – 33 13 39%
Rd 5 53 19 36% – 32 13 41%
Rd 6 62 25 40% – 44 12 27%
Rd 7 77 33 43% – 51 17 33%
Rd 8 99 37 37% – 59 24 41%
Rd 9 87 32 37% – 55 24 44%
Rd 10 104 43 41% – 65 26 40%
Rd 11 109 52 48% – 86 30 35%
Rd 12 122 57 47% – 78 29 37%
TOTAL 912 367 40% – 593 215 36%
Source: CompuBox
Right up until the opening bell, Jr was guzzling water after a brutal weight cut the 48 hours before.
Both men missed with wild early shots and then Benn scored with a left hook and right hand.
Then a double-jab-right-hand combo landed from the Ilford slugger.
Eubank needed to suck down more water throughout his first break as trainer Johnathon Banks tried to give him instructions.
Eubank’s first eye-catching shot was a second-round jab that was crisp and flush, a left hook also connected but Benn countered with a right hand in another tense early round.
Both Brits were jabbing well by the third and Benn’s right hands were landing. Eubank had to tie up after one stinging effort and tried to trash talk the younger and fresher man.
Both men collapsed on the floor with 30 seconds left but Benn had enough time to bounce up and land another right hand that was proving to be his honey punch.
Eubank started the fourth with a couple of good hooks to head and body and then a textbook uppercut from the Brighton man snapped Benn’s shaved skull back and got the crowd cheering.
But Benn never took a backward step and kept headhunting with rasping combinations, even when they continued swapping insults as well as punches.
Referee Victor Loughlin ordered them to cut out the conversations before the fifth started.
Benn hit the deck and did a backward roll but it was another slip on the heavily advertised canvas.
Eubank Jr tried a one-two and Benn growled back “what’s that?” as the aggro intensified.
Benn’s frenetic early pace slowed in the sixth and Eubank Jr scored with a bollo uppercut to the body before being warned for rabbit punching to the back of the head.
As soon as the seventh started, the ref dived in to stop a wrestle and Eubank was able to score with a left hook. And he landed a jab-right-hook combo before holding and whispering in Benn’s ear.
Benn started every round explosively and the eighth was no different but it always tapered off. And the volume of punches he missed must have sapped at his energy levels.
Eubank was hurt with a chopping right hand with 30 seconds of the round left.
Benn clipped him and his legs stiffened and he boxed like a drunk, stumbling forward and missing. Benn had forced an opening.
Benn landed another vicious one-two in the ninth and another thudding little right and Eubank was cut around the right eye, following a clash of heads, and trying to blink the blood away.
Eubank’s early finesse and poise were gone and he was hanging on by a thread of pride and freakish genetic fitness.
Eubank started the 10th like a man who knew he was on a cliff edge in his career.
But Benn buzzed and wobbled him again as he took control of the back end of the bout.
Jr was almost finished with a minute left, he was scythed and slashed and thudded by his nemesis and there was no oxygen for trash talk any more.
Eubank was a shadow of a fighter by the 11th, powerless and surviving on fumes and dangerously vulnerable.
Benn kept slashing away and Eubank and his bruised cheekbone would use clinches to check the clock and see how long he had to last.
Both men were exhausted by the final round and Eubank started with a ridiculously wild left hook that missed by a mile.
Then they slugged it out for a moment but the quality went out the open roof along with their oxygen.
Eubank went to the well one last time, pinned Benn on the ropes and bashed him up but both men showed their inherited hearts and chins to last it out.
And when the bell went they both walked away in shattered celebrations and all the fathers and sons mixed and mingled and made amends.
The pair tumbled after a coming together[/caption]
Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr embraced before the fight[/caption]