Eddie Hearn insists that Conor Benn’s lack of size won’t matter when he jumps up two weight classes to take on middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. this Saturday, April 26th, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Hearn says Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) is “better” than Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs), and that will be enough to make up for being undersized.
Conor struggled in his last fight against Peter Dobson and didn’t show that he was technically great in laboring to a hard-fought 12-round decision on February 3, 2024. That was 14 months ago.
Overcoming Size
Coming back against Chris Eubank Jr. without the benefit of a tune-up would be difficult for any fighter, but it’s worse for a Benn, who has never cut his teeth on world-level opposition. He’s smaller, ring-rusty, and devoid of experience against contenders. It doesn’t look good for Conor.
Saturday’s fight between Benn and Eubank Jr. will be shown live on DAZN PPV. The winner of this fight will be in line to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his super middleweight titles in 2026. It would be a big career turnaround if Benn emerges the winner on Saturday and meets up with Alvarez next year.
Undercard fights
– Anthony Yarde vs. Lyndon Arthur
– Liam Smith vs. Aaron McKenna
– Chris Billiam-Smith vs. Brandon Glanton
– Viddal Riley vs. Cheavon Clarke
“I’m jumping up two weight divisions, yes. Does it faze me? Not really. It’s a fight. Let’s fight,” said Conor Benn to Matchroom Boxing, blowing smoke about him not being worried about moving up two divisions to fight middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. on Saturday.
“It makes no difference to me what he does, what he thinks. I could really care less because regardless, I’m going to come out with a big right hand to his temple.”
The power that Benn once had several years ago has evaporated, and he’s been forced to win his last two fights going the distance against the non-contenders Peter Dobson and Rodolfo Orozco. It’s understandable why Conor wants to come out slugging because he doesn’t possess the boxing skills or the size to win a decision against Euabnk Jr. If he doesn’t jump on him right away on Saturday, it’s only a matter of time before he gets stopped by the bigger man.
Hearn’s “Better” Claim
“Conor Benn is a welterweight coming up to middleweight. He’s at a huge size disadvantage, but he’s much better. He’s much younger. He’s much fresher, but he’s coming up against a much bigger man,” said promoter Eddie Hearn.
I have serious doubts whether Hearn actually believes his man Benn can win. You could say that Conor Benn is the “Better man” than Eubank Jr. if he’s beaten a middleweight like Janibek Alimkhanuly, Carlos Adames, Erislandy Lara, or Denzel Bentley. But given that he’s not fought any of those guys and is resume is filled with domestic-level scrubs, you can only assume that he’s going to lose this fight quite badly on Saturday.
“I’ve got no worry about that. Conor is about eight pounds over middleweight now. He walks around at 12 stone, comfortable,” said Nigel Benn.
Conor is still going to be out-sized by Eubank Jr. in this fight. It doesn’t matter if he walks around at 168, he’s still not fought anyone as big as or as talented as Chris Jr. It would mean something that Benn is 168 after rehydrating if he had fought a top 10 contender at middleweight.
Last Updated on 04/21/2025
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