Chris Eubank Jr is fighting Liam Smith next, live on Sky Sports Box Office on January 21. But he's not going to forgive Conor Benn, or forget the saga of Benn's failed drug test that saw his fight with Eubank Jr cancelled just days before it was meant to take place
Tuesday 29 November 2022 22:01, UK
Chris Eubank Jr has moved on from Conor Benn after the collapse of their mooted fight in October.
Eubank will take on former world champion Liam Smith in his next fight, live on Sky Sports Box Office on January 21.
But he's not going to forget Conor Benn failing a drug test, nor is he inclined to forgive.
"There's no forgetting, absolutely not," Eubank said. "Forgiveness, no, I don't need to have that in my mind."
It was a shock to Eubank, who had the Benn fight cancelled just three days before it was meant to take place.
"I was never told about the first failed drugs test, which is pretty incredible but true," he said. "Nobody told me.
"I wouldn't have accepted the fight in August if I'd known he'd failed a test before and by the time I did find out it was too late. It was a very bad situation for me, for boxing, for the fans.
"I feel bad for the kid, he's really messed up and he's going to have to answer for his wrongdoings eventually. I know he's gone MIA for the last few months," Eubank added.
"He was on Instagram and Twitter every single day for the last however long and now no one knows where he is."
Eubank believes the general public won't be quick to forget either.
"What's happened has happened," he continued. "It's been out there for too long, too many people think that he cheated.
"He has to accept that and that's the only way he's going to be able to move forward," he continued.
"Even if it is proven to be a mistake and he is innocent, he's still guilty in the eyes of the public. That's just how the world works unfortunately. Once you've been branded you can't ever get away from that."
Benn has admitted he failed two drug tests, in July and September, before his bout vs Eubank Jr was dramatically cancelled, but has vowed to prove his innocence.
That fight was going to take place at a catchweight. Eubank still dropped below the middleweight limit to prove that he could, even once the contest had been called off.
"That was not fun, especially knowing while I was going through it that I wasn't even going to fight. That made it all the more painful. But I said I was going to be on weight, so I made weight," Eubank explained.
He confirmed that he would never do that again. His January 21 fight at the AO Arena in Manchester will be at 160lbs. It's Smith, a former world champion at super-welter, who'll be stepping up a division.
Eubank claimed he only needed to be at 50 per cent for the fight with Smith, but for this clash there won't be any stipulations around the weight to deplete him.
"I had to recover, but it's been long enough. We've had enough time. I filled back out," he said. "We've got a solid eight-week camp to get back into fighting shape.
"This is going to be such a fun fight."
