Nigel Benn believes his son Conor defeats Eubank Jr to become world champion at 28

Nigel Benn: "Conor wants to destroy Eubank Jr - my son can become world champion at 28"

Former world champion Nigel 'The Dark Destroyer' Benn has spoken to Vision4Sport about the April 26 fight between his son, Conor, and fierce rival, Chris Eubank Jr. The 'Born Rivals' are due to lock horns at Tottenham Hotspur stadium in North London to settle a family feud which has been ongoing for four decades.

During the 90s, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank were embroiled in a fierce rivalry which ignited in 1990 when Eubank defeated Benn in none rounds to rip his WBO World middleweight title away from him. They met again in the division up almost three years later for WBC and WBO World super-middleweight titles, but the grudge match ended in a stalemate.

Ever since, the rivalry has ensued, with both harbouring genuine dislike for each other, and has now been passed down to the next generation.

Conor and Junior were meant to meet in the ring in October 2022, but a series of failed drug tests scuppered that. Benn voluntarily relinquished his boxing licence with the BBBofC after he tested positive for the banned substance clomifene in two separate Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) tests.

The 61-year-old said of his son, “He’s on a mission. There’s a lot of things Junior has said about Conor - things that were untrue. And Conor holds onto that.

“You don’t need to add any fuel to this fire - it’s already burning. It’s not about hate. Let’s get that straight. But Conor wants to destroy him.”

Nigel then addressed the controversy that has surrounded Conor for the past two years, “It has been very challenging. Watching your young boy, who is innocent, who spent nearly a million pounds fighting a case. It is not a guilty man. That is someone who is saying, 'You know what, whatever it takes'. At that time, he was making no money. His money got whittled right down. But he was sending the calls. He knew he was innocent.

“Anyone who saw him, even when he went to Nevada, they said, 'Yeah, alright, we see the case. Not guilty'. But the British Boxing Board of Control… well, I am not going to go there. I will just say that is my opinion, but I do not want to open old wounds.

“We got through it and have been victorious on all points in the Free Judgments campaign. The panel said Conor Benn was not guilty. So, we are happy about that and now we are moving on to bigger and better things. It is funny how quickly things turned around. His fight at the O2 sold out in 8 minutes, or was it 12 minutes? Now he is fighting at Tottenham. How great is that?”

On 5 October 2022, a statement was released from the British Boxing Board of Control declaring that Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn was prohibited from taking place on Saturday 8 October after Benn tested positive for clomifene.

Benn's promoters released a statement saying, "Benn has not been charged with any rule violation, he is not suspended, and he remains free to fight." Eubank's promoter also said the fight would go ahead as scheduled, but the following day, the BBBofC confirmed that the fight had been postponed.

And it has taken 31 months to get the pair back together again.

Even though Eubank Jr has campaigned for most of his career at middleweight, two divisions above welterweight Conor's weight class, Nigel Benn does not believe that will matter come fight night.

“You know what? I’m not worried one bit - not in the slightest. I know my son’s capabilities,” Benn confidently shrugged.

“People act like he’s going up against a Canelo or a Crawford - it’s not that. We’re going to see a powerful destroyer in that ring.

“How it goes depends on what my son wants to do. Does he want to spark him out, or does he want to play with him? I don’t know. And I really mean that.

“I’m not disregarding Chris—he’s got a puncher’s chance. He’ll be in the best shape of his life. But he won’t have anything to match Conor—I know that.”

Nigel then expanded on what he would like to see his son do after this long-running feud is finally put to bed.

“I want him to be active this year, with maybe a Eubank rematch and then I would like to see Conor fight [Mario] Barrios. That is my opinion. To be world champion at 28, the same age I was when I won the WBC—that would be nice. Like father, like son.

“I would like to see him fight three times this year. I know Conor - he would get frustrated if he had to wait that long for a fight because he has been out for so long.”

Mario Barrios is the reigning WBC World welterweight champion. The Texan was elevated from Interim to full champion after Terence Crawford was granted champion in recess status .

Back to his next fight in front of him, Benn revealed his son usually enters the ring at middleweight, so the weight disparity won't play much of a part, in his view.

“Let me be honest with you. Gaining that much weight will just sit in your stomach anyway. It is not going to have a major impact. Putting on 10 pounds in 24 hours? What is that going to do? Conor fights at 160 anyway, so he is fine. He can make it.

“Conor walks around at 12 stone 2, 12 stone 3, so making 160 is not a problem. It is not about the clause for him. He is used to it.

“It was Chris's decision, not Conor’s. Conor carries that weight easily. And remember, he has sparred with Sean Porter, so he has been in with top fighters already.”

Eubank vs Benn has got history

“It’s got history. It’s got mileage in it. We never thought this would happen. The Benn vs. Eubank fight - oh my gosh! It’s unbelievable. A lot of people are going to come out because of what me and Eubank Sr. did.

“Can you imagine if this was just Eubank Jr. vs. someone else or Conor vs. someone else? They’d probably get about half a million each. But this fight - this fight is different.

“We [Nigel benn and Chris Eubank] had about 18.5 million watching in the UK. Can you imagine if we were on pay-per-view? Nearly half a billion around the world!

“It was just big because of what me and Chris did. You can’t really compare it. It was a whole different atmosphere. But a lot of people are coming to see this fight because of the rivalry we had. People will just turn up to see where it’s going to go.

“We need Chris. He’s a character. Even though he’s hard work, he’s a character. We need someone like him in the corner. I don’t know what relationship he has with his son, but I pray it’s a good one. At the end of the day, he lost one of his boys already. I wouldn’t like to see him fall out with another. I just hope they repair the damage.

“Me and Conor - sometimes we disagree, but we love each other. We don’t fall out.

“Oh, he’s my 28-year-old younger self. We do a lot of things the same way. One time, we both said 'idiot' at the exact same time in an argument. We do a lot of things in sync. And that’s why I’ve got 'Like Father, Like Son' tattooed on my back. We’re very much alike.

“We’re very emotional people, and we’re live wires when it comes to fighting. You could say something wrong, and we’ll react.

“Even his intensity, it comes from me - I’ve got that in me. But he’s got that in him, too. That was born in him. He’s been a fighter all his life. He’s just got that fire in his belly.

“His method of training is on another level. If I look at myself as a world champion, I’m here. Conor’s training methods? They’re on another level. It blows my mind - his fitness level blows my mind. He just lives for boxing, and that’s what I love about him.

“Eubank Jr. is just like his dad as well. Watching the first press conference, it was like déjà vu—Chris Jr. was sitting there, calm, composed, just like his dad. Meanwhile, Conor was fired up, just like me.”