In a wide-ranging interview which will be available on the 5 Live Boxing podcast, Eubank Jr speaks candidly about the pressure of being the son of British boxing legend Chris Eubank Sr.
“Now it’s not so much about living up to my dad’s aura and expectation. That used to worry me but now that’s just not part of who I am,” he said.
Eubank Jr was scheduled to meet Benn in October 2022, 30 years after their fathers Nigel Benn and Eubank Sr fought, but the fight was cancelled when it emerged Benn had failed two voluntary drug tests.
Benn, who has always insisted he is innocent of intentionally doping, is currently suspended from fighting after UK Anti-Doping and the British Boxing Board of Control successfully appealed against the lifting of his ban.
But Eubank Jr says “that chapter cannot be closed” and insists he will call the shots on a potential future bout between the pair.
“I imagine it’s going to happen in the next 12 months. As soon as he gets his licence back and his career back on track, that fight will happen,” Eubank Jr said.
He added: “[Benn] has no say in anything now. He’s lost all his privileges. You can’t fail a drug test and come back and say ‘I still want weight clauses and rehydration clauses’. Now you take what you get. Now you’re the bad guy.
“Now it’s not just about how our dads fought. Now we have our own beef. We have our own story. We have our own history.”
Source Agencies
