Conor Benn has had his demand of fighting Chris Eubank Jr in a smaller ring granted to guarantee of a ‘tear-up’ between the two born-rivals.
Benn and Eubank Jr will square off in a much-anticipated British boxing showdown on Saturday night, more than thirty years on from when their legendary fathers, Nigel and Chris Sr, settled their own bitter in-ring grudge.
Benn, 28, comes up two weight divisions to fight Eubank Jr and fulfil his destiny of facing the son of his father’s greatest rival, sacrificing the comfort of his preferred class of welterweight.
But after bowing to the requests of natural middleweight Eubank Jr, 35, over that specific issue, Benn has had a wish of his own accepted after demanding an 18-foot ring for the fight, which is smaller than standard.
With Benn backing his power, he wants to restrict Eubank Jr’s movement by chipping away at space and trapping his opponent within reach, forcing him to go for punch-for-punch in the squared circle.
“The only thing I asked for in my contract was an 18-foot ring,” Benn told Sky Sports.
“Coming in there to steamroll him? Of course I am. You think I’m coming in there to muck about? That’s just how I am.
“If you think you’re faster than me, prove it. You think you’re stronger than me, prove it. You think you’re smarter than me, prove it. Come meet me in the middle.”
Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn echoed the bruiser’s sentiment that a smaller ring should allow for a more action-packed fight, but has admitted that it could also play nicely into Eubank Jr’s hands as well.
“It’ll be a nice small ring to have a tear-up in,” Hearn added. “It might suit Eubank. He may decide to stand and have a shootout.
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“Conor can box, by the way, he’s got great legs and his movement’s very good. It’s not like he just comes forward. That’s the thing that I think will give Eubank fits, is Conor’s movement, the way he dips down, comes in.
“It’s horrible. Stuck against the ropes, boom, boom, it’s the speed of it. There are very few fighters that are as sharp as Conor Benn early in a fight like that. Conor tries to end the fight in the first round, that’s why he’s so exciting.
“Eubank is not one of those fighters that starts fast out of the gate. Look at the Liam Smith fight, it’s a cracking example. If he decides to stand and trade, it’s all over in three rounds, one way or the other. It will be the British Hagler-Hearns. That’s what it’ll be.”
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