Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn: How boxing's biggest plot twist defined Eubank's greatest night
What was it like to witness Chris Eubank Jr and Chris Eubank Sr's shock reunion on one of the greatest nights in British boxing history? Eubank Jr beat Conor Benn by unanimous decision as the rivals finally faced off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night
Monday 28 April 2025 11:08, UK
One final, seismic, scintillating twist was coming. We weren't to know. The Tottenham crowd weren't to know. Conor Benn certainly wasn't to know.
We, they, him were about to know. And things were about to change.
A cacophony of noise was lurking on the horizon, primed to be instigated by one of the iconic moments in British boxing history. An 'I was there' tale befitting of the cliche, a fight night gift of god-tier goosebumps, a cinematic masterpiece witnesses shall refrain from rewatching and retelling only on days not ending in a 'y'.
As Liam Smith and the impressively-slippery Aaron McKenna returned to their corners between rounds, a car was pictured on the big screen, its tinted windows fuelling the mystery as to who sat behind door No 1.
- Chris Eubank beats Conor Benn in thrilling 12-round battle
- Father's presence inspires Eubank Jr in Benn victory: 'He needed to be here'
- Benn wants 'revenge' in Eubank Jr rematch but could return to welter
Logic suggested it was merely the arrival of Chris Eubank Jr, shortly after that of Benn as the pair geared up for the defining night created by the legacy of their legendary family name. But no.
The car door was opened by a member of security, revealing a grinning Eubank Sr as darts anthem Chase The Sun blasted around Tottenham. Boxing had just struck its winning double, for the Eubanks - PLURAL - were here.
Cue bedlam. Cue a pop of roars that could sell for millions were it bottled up, which would only grow in ferocity upon further realisation of what was unfolding around the stadium.
The boxing titan paused for effect, glancing down the camera in 'guess whoooooo?' fashion before rising from his seat and wrapping one arm around his approaching son, who had now complemented those steely eyes with an unshakeable smirk.
He, they had not lost a beat of the Eubank showmanship, Sr's heroic unveiling all very 'BAH GAWD THAT'S EUBANK'S MUSIC!'-esque in a WrestleMania-calibre bombshell that was yet engrained with a deeper and more poignant undertone.
The two had not spoken for some time, their fractured relationship a sensitive talking point and making for a glaring, often upsetting, contrast adjacent to Conor and Nigel Benn's tight-knit family atmosphere throughout the build-up to Saturday's main event.
The optics portrayed a Benn army, while Eubank - a seemingly willing lone wolf at times - had occasionally cut a solitary figure, not that it stopped him from commanding every media engagement and every verbal exchange on offer.
His father had publicly called his son a disgrace following the infamous egg slap and had repeatedly criticised the weight components within the fight agreement, distancing himself entirely from the bout with a firm insistence he wanted nothing to do with the event.
Benn had used their feud as ammunition with which to knock Eubank Jr's marmite character. But here was the reunion boxing had hoped for, the two marching powerfully side-by-side from the car park to the dressing room in a spine-chilling shift in mood. Jr ice-cold, Sr swaggering infectiously in his extravagant fur-lined leather coat. Nobody does entrances like him.
Conor, Nigel and the rest of the Benn camp watched it all on the TV from their dressing room, frozen in time but evidently, based on the performance that would follow, undeterred from the mission as they processed a reconciliation nobody saw coming.
Momentum had swung towards Benn slightly on Friday as Eubank was fined $500,000 (£376,000) for dramatically missing weight by half an ounce. It proved an expensive miscalculation from the 35-year-old and, whether he were to admit it or not, a late mental hurdle for him to overcome on the eve of his biggest moment.
But with this came a fresh electricity. The landscape, you felt, had altered again. The ever-formidable Eubank mentality had received a new injection of adrenaline and purpose.
The camera panned to Turki Alalshikh at ringside, boxing's string-puller sporting a beaming smile while applauding in celebration over the theatre at the helm of which he sat proudly.
It was a monumental flashpoint in his own bid to imprint his influence on Britain's beloved boxing stage, his show delivering a scene for the ages by bringing two of the country's most famous family names under one, noise-obliterated, roof.
All night, there was a fictional tinge to an all-too non-fictional tale of legacy, controversy and EuBANKSY artistry. Scarily-accurate Ed Sheeran and David Beckham lookalikes were employed to hold the ring cards between rounds (don't ask), 'Hannibal Lecter' was in attendance (us neither) and Billy Joe Saunders (yes, him), tasked to incite chaos, clashed with Eubank's security backstage after being denied entrance to his old foe's dressing room having been asked to check the hand wraps as part of Team Benn.
Baffling, all of it. Absorbing, all of it (though I admittedly could have lived without the Sheeran double).
Anthony Yarde, meanwhile, offered a nod to London's grime roots by walking out alongside Chip and D Double E ahead of his fight against Manchester's Lyndon Arthur, and 'Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur' was played as Viddal Riley defeated Arsenal fan Chev Clarke to become British cruiserweight champion.
Gunners midfielder Declan Rice and Aston Villa's Marcus Rashford smiled as they were booed upon appearing on screen, YouTube stars KSI and IShowSpeed smiled as they were booed upon appearing on screen and Eddie Hearn smiled as he was booed upon appearing on screen, the latter seemingly enjoying the pantomime quirk.
At one point, there were two people competing in the new edition of the video game 'Fatal Fury' on the ringside screens.
If Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn did manage to catch up, they may well have discussed how times have changed since the pair's historic rivalry three decades ago, which is where everything that happened on Saturday truly began.
Without the two of them, without their names, none of this happens. Michael Buffer giving both formal introductions in the ring was a reminder of as much.
Finally, it was time. A hooded Benn, accompanied by his father, was greeted by boos as he appeared from the tunnel to the sight of 67,000 fans on comfortably the biggest night of his career.
Among the chief questions would be how he mentally handled the pressure of a suffocating atmosphere riled by the two failed drugs tests that postponed the pair's initial fight scheduled for October 2022, from which there can be no hiding.
Eubank followed, the introductory tune of his father's famous ring-walk song The Best prompting an eruption of nostalgia-driven delight as the two emerged in unison against the odds. They proceeded to stand side-by-side on the stage provided for the respective entrances, Sr peacocking with grace while Jr took an extended moment to gaze around the stadium bowl as the music transitioned into a slower choir-like track indicative of the emotion.
It was something of a photographer's dream, an orchestral version of Jr's usual song Still DRE eventually kicking in to mark the final leg of a ring-walk that will nestle among the all-time greats.
For all of Benn's unwavering intent, troublesome speed, knockout threat and 12-round will, it was to be Eubank's moment and Eubank's greatest night. Here was the 'bad guy' vowing to chop down the, in Eubank's words, other 'bad guy' in a rare collision of villains, at the heart of whom's rivalry had no longer just been family bragging rights but Benn's failed drug tests.
Eubank said he felt a duty to win for boxing. He conquered every slanging match as the master salesman, and on Saturday dug deeper than ever before to repel Benn's statement performance.
"Benn spoke of fear, Eubank spoke of pain," said Sky Sports Boxing's Andy Clarke.
He had been referring to Eubank's fascinating monologue during Thursday's press conference, where he spoke of the pain of losing his brother and the pain of not speaking to his father as examples as to why his weight cut did not feel like real pain in comparison.
Benn, and most of the room, anticipated another Eubank tangent and had chuckled momentarily, before a pin-drop could be heard upon the realisation that the guard had been dropped.
It is why Sr's presence on Saturday meant so much. He had to be there.
"Seeing these pictures put a lump in my throat," said Sky Sports Boxing's Johnny Nelson when Sr arrived. Nelson had pleaded with him to attend his son's fight while speaking at Friday's ceremonial weigh-in.
In the end, it became a fight built on and reliant on grit more than skill. Benn was a persistent aggressor as he hurt his counterpart without succeeding in finding a decisive blow, before Eubank seized control of the middle rounds through more measured and cleaner shots after his tentative start in the face of his rival's blistering speed.
The fight would catch fire as it soared towards the latter stages, a combination of tiring Eubank legs and the sustained energy of Benn provoking a battle of attrition as a draw looked possible upon the start of round 10.
From nowhere, Eubank was able to summon a new source of defiance, biting down on his gumshield as both traded leather furiously over a wild conclusion to an instant classic.
A heated war of words, egg-slap-incited anger, every ounce of fallout surrounding Benn's ban and the pride of their family name came out in round 12 when the exhausted pair delivered a barnstorming finish to bring the Tottenham crowd to its feet, both running on empty as Eubank refused to lie down in one last decisive attack at the ropes to get over the line in his unanimous decision victory.
Eubank previously told the story of how his younger self had been tossed into the ring to spar with an opponent far superior in weight as an acid test of his resilience, describing his resolve as he continued to fight despite the punishment coming his way. He turned to every ounce of that toughness cultivated over his career as he edged out Benn.
"I knew I had that in me, I didn't know he would be the one to bring it out," said Eubank in the ring afterwards.
A hurt but hungry Benn had issued a reminder of the world title threat he shall carry upon returning to his usual weight at 147.
Eubank Jr had, meanwhile, swatted away the challenges of an 18-foot ring and a potentially problematic rehydration clause, while swerving the questions that beckoned were he to lose to the usually-welterweight Benn and prevailing as the more experienced fighter to preserve his in-danger world title aspirations. All with his dad watching on from ringside.
The formation of the spectacle and the rivalry itself will forever remain up for fair debate but between them, Eubank Jr and Benn produced one of the great fight nights in British boxing history. Sr's arrival alone will forever be rewatched as an anomalous exception to an era where no secret is a secret.
