Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn go to war again tonight in the latest instalment of the family feud.
30 years on from their fathers sharing two unforgettable bouts that captivated the country, the sons of boxing royalty did it all over again in April with Eubank Jr walking away as the winner.
Like his father did in Birmingham in 1990, Conor Benn came up short but a rematch was inevitable with the 29-year-old desperate to avenge his only defeat and restore some family pride.
Both fighters have faced huge questions coming into the rematch. Can Eubank Jr cope after boiling down to below 160lbs? Does Benn have the power to truly rock his rival? Will the seven-year age gap between the two play a role this time around?
Metro spoke to four former world champions in the lead-up to the rematch, some of the biggest names in British boxing over the last two decades, to get their verdict.
Carl Froch – former super-middleweight world champion
I don’t think Chris has it in him again. That was a hard fight first time around, he took a lot of shots, his face was swelled up and he took a lot of weight off.
He will come back a lesser fighter and Benn is coming back a more well-rounded fighter. despite what happened. Benn is coming back a better fighter, Eubank is coming back worse.
Tony Bellew – former cruiserweight world champion
Eubank is a very good athlete and he does live the life. But it is about the recovery and I think his body went through hell that night. He spent some time in hospital after and that wasn’t just down to the dehydration, that was also down to the shots he took.
He absorbed more damage in that fight than he has done in a long while. The Liam Smith knockout came out of nowhere, he didn’t take too much damage leading up to it that night. But the damage he took in April will show in this fight.
George Groves – former super-middleweight world champion
Conor Benn needs to take Chris Eubank Jr out of his comfort zone and make it a dog fight. I think this time he gets it right. He is not going to have as much nervous energy he has in the first fight.
There were technical things he did wrong in the first fight, he wasted too much energy with his power shots and when they got together, he was letting Eubank manhandle him and it felt like it was a case of whose will breaks first. Eubank’s will might not be there this time. Benn also now has the experience of having shared the ring with the bigger man.
David Haye – former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion
I feel Eubank will win this fight on points, if not points a late stoppage. I think there is a small chance of Conor Benn coming out and putting together a 20 punch combination on Chris because he has got that firepower to maybe send him down.
He has the power to make sure Chris has to stay 100 per cent, any lapse in concentration and he could be in trouble. But if I was putting a bet on it would be for Chris Eubank to get the win again.
David Haye spoke to Metro as a brand ambassador for HighBet.
Carl Froch, George Groves and Tony Bellew spoke to Metro courtesy of https://www.sportscasting.com/uk/.