“CHRIS EUBANK JR and Conor Benn have floored one of the big preconceptions about boxing — and the incredible maniacs that do it. Legend has it that “posh boys can’t punch, rich boys cannot go to the well”. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn meet for a huge”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
Legend has it that “posh boys can’t punch, rich boys cannot go to the well”.
Thank you!
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn meet for a huge rematch on SaturdayCredit: Getty
Eubank Jr won the first bout in AprilCredit: Reuters And 80s middleweight icon Marvin Hagler famously said: “It’s tough to get out of bed to go running at 5am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pyjamas.”
The toughest men in the history of this barbaric sport mostly came from slavery, poverty or prison.
When Mike Tyson’s 16-year-old son said he wanted to follow in his dad’s infamous footsteps, the Baddest Man on the Planet told him: “You went to a private school! You can’t be a boxer.
“You can’t be a fighter with that. You want to fight guys like me? Animals?
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“It’s a lot of sacrifices, pain, suffering. I took the blows so that my children wouldn’t have to do it.”
His hero and pound-for-pound legend Roberto Duran summed it up even better when he said: “To this day I believe that boxing champions never come from rich neighbourhoods.
“They come from the gutters. It’s God’s law.”
So what were Eubank Jr, 36, and Conor Benn, 29, doing last April, in that Tottenham bearpit?
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And how are they re-running it tonight?
Both had luxurious childhoods, during which they were shielded from the physical and psychological depths their fathers had to plunge to in order to shape their bright futures.
Benn speaks Spanish fluently, having spent his formative years in Australia and Spain. Eubank plays poker with Neymar.
Both went to private schools.
Their fathers gave them easy routes to the big-time and promoters put them ahead of better talents to sell tickets.
They had every reason and exit strategy ready for when the going got tough.
Eubank had shown a hereditary heart and chin in defeats to Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves and a 2023 rematch victory against Liam Smith.
But Benn — eternally dogged by a doping case he won but still throws shade on some of his most eye-catching wins — went into the original with plenty to prove.
They both weathered storms, they were both hurt, and toward the end they fought on fumes and family pride.
Ex-ring star Tony Bellew believes the pair deserve the highest praise for swapping cushy lives for self-made cash in the hardest game.
But former super-middleweight world champ Carl Froch disagrees.
The Nottingham hero told SunSport: “He’s saying they sold a stadium out and made a load of money — and that’s unbelievable.
“But that’s mainly based on their names, that’s it, nothing else.
“If these guys didn’t have their names, they would be fighting for British titles — and not many people would care. It’s British level boxing and a great fight.”
No-nonsense Froch, 49, makes it clear he really likes Benn and he respects a raw and novice Eubank Jr daring to spar him around 12 years ago when The Cobra was close to his Groves-beating prime.
But he refuses to celebrate their sporting achievements — or lack of.
He explained: “Benn needs to go back down to 147lb next and Eubank will get what he can with Jake Paul or another gimmick.
“He boxed Billy Joe Saunders years ago and lost because he started too slow.
“He lost to a past-his-best George Groves — who had a dodgy shoulder and I had already ironed out — and he beat James DeGale when he was finished, so Eubank Jr’s done f*** all.
“Eubank is brave as f*** but he never did his apprenticeship. If his bank balance is his achievement, then he has done very well. But I am criticising this level by asking, ‘where is your ambition for world titles?’. Before I turned pro I was in a s*** job earning £12,000 a year and smoking weed. I was going nowhere.
“I didn’t turn pro until I was 25. Then all I wanted was the British title, the Lonsdale belt, and I still get it down off the shelf now.”
Froch’s two-fight rival Groves — who beat Eubank Jr in a close thriller — gives them more credit.
He said: “I think Conor wins the rematch — there’s more for him to gain, avenge the loss.
“Eubank Jr got a lot sort of wrong in the first one.
“I can see how people think that, because Eubank mixed it with me, they can’t comprehend how Conor could compete with him like that, a tiny little welterweight. But he went and did it. They rocked it out.”