Chris Eubank Jr. was barely one year old when his father, Chris Eubank Sr., fought Nigel Benn for the first time in 1990. Conor Benn would not be born until 3 years after the pair’s rematch in 1993. The 2 fights were the culmination of a bitter rivalry between the boxing greats, who each held world titles at middleweight and super-middleweight during that period. The first was won by Eubank Sr., a 9th-round knockout coming at the end of a fierce battle, while the similarly entertaining rematch finished in a hard-fought draw for both fighters.
The pair never contested a decisive trilogy fight, but 3 decades later, their sons will step into the ring to finish what they started. Like his father before him, Eubank Jr. has been a world champion at both middleweight and super-middleweight, while Benn – who is yet to challenge for a world title but has held the WBA Continental belt since 2018 – operates at the lighter welterweight. Given the weight disparity between the pair, their fight will take place at a catchweight, a negotiated weight limit agreed upon by both camps.
Eubank Jr. holds a 32-2 record, with the most recent of those 2 defeats coming against George Groves in 2018. The 32-year-old has fought 6 times since then, picking up wins against the likes of James DeGale and Liam Williams. Meanwhile, Benn remains unbeaten with a 21-0 record, with his recent wins including stoppages of Samuel Vargas, Chris Algieri, and Chris van Heerden.
They’ll face off at The O2 in London on 8 October, 2 weeks after Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker go head-to-head at the AO Arena in Manchester on 24 September. The opponents are the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked contenders in the WBO’s heavyweight division, and it’s little wonder why.
Joyce – who collected a silver medal for Team GB at the 2016 Summer Olympics – has been unbeaten since turning pro in 2017 with a 14-0 record to his name. Of those victories, only 1 went the distance, so he currently boasts an astonishing 93% knockout record. The 36-year-old will be putting his unbeaten record and the WBC Silver and WBO International titles on the line.
The man trying to prise them off him, Parker (30-2), holds the WBO Inter-Continental belt, but he previously held the WBO world heavyweight strap. Whoever wins this bout will have the chance to fight for that illustrious prize, because the victor will become the mandatory challenger to the winner of Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, so this fight is not to be missed either!
Official standard tickets for Eubank Jr. v Benn are already sold out, but official VIP packages are still available from GBP £2,500, and resale tickets are available from £175. Tickets for Joyce v Parker start at £55.
For more information about both fights, visit the event pages below.
