Ricky Hatton gives prediction for Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn

Ricky Hatton leaning towards Conor Benn over Chris Eubank Jr

Former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton spoke to Action Network and revealed he thinks 'fearless' Conor Benn can stop Chris Eubank Jr in the later rounds.

The born rivals lock horns this Saturday night, April 26, in London's Tottenham Hotspur stadium, live on DAZN .

Firstly, how do you think the fight is going to play out?

RH: "I keep changing my mind every five minutes. A lot of people are the same and are shifting to Eubank Jr because of the size difference. Conor has showed fantastic performances which have been explosive and showed great promise, and I’m a friend of Nigel and Conor, but it would be fair to say he hasn’t fought anyone of any particular standard, certainly of the opponents Eubank Jr has faced.

"That’s at his own weight let alone moving up two weights so that’s Conor Benn for you. He’s very much like his dad, fearless with huge self-belief in himself and that’s the hardest thing to beat in the opponent with the belief they have.

"It seems like Chris Eubank Jr has been around forever. Last time he tried to boil his weight down and the fight got cancelled and then he went in with Liam Smith and got stopped. He normally has a fantastic chin, and Liam is a lot bigger than Conor but he had been bringing his weight down, so I don’t know if that had a factor in his resistance in the Smith fight.

"The fact there are so many questions to ask with the weight, size and Conor moving up… I will fancy Conor and if he gets amongst him, he has so much fire in his belly and desire. He doesn’t like Chris so I think that extra bit of fire might be a points decision or a stoppage down the straight.

"No result would surprise me. If Chris comes out and outboxes him and outclasses him, he is well capable of doing that with the higher level of opposition he has fought but it could go any way and no result would surprise me."

The egg throwing incident. Do you think Eubank Jr crossed a line?

RH: "I don’t know (how I would react) but I thought it was quite funny, and I chuckled but it was disrespectful and there’s no getting away from that, but I thought it was funny. He’s a very acquired taste in Eubank Jr like his dad but something as humorous and a bit of banter like that, it tickled me.

"I know Chris Eubank Sr isn’t happy with his boy doing that and said he never taught him that but what Chris Sr has to realize is that it’s from a different era. I’d have never done that, neither would Chris Sr or Nigel Benn but with social media now, whenever it’s a press conference or a weigh-in, a table gets thrown or there’s pushing or shoving.

"I can see why Conor and Nigel were fuming but it’s added to the fire of the fight with the history of the two fighters. That added more fuel on the fire which has made it interesting. It’s a shame to see Chris Sr is not involved, I get it a little bit with what happened with Michael Watson and Gerald McClellan fight and the fight is taking place with the weight situation bearing in mind with the history of what happened with Chris Sr and Nigel. That’s why Chris Sr doesn’t want to get involved with his son boiling down in weight to go against Conor who even though is smaller, he is talented and explosive."

Conor Benn admitted the doping scandal took its toll on him. If he secures the win, does it rank as one of the greatest British boxing comeback stories?

RH: "Yes, I think so. I spoke to Conor nearer the time and did some functions with Nigel and it hit them both very hard and were pleading their innocence. It would’ve been a hard thing for any father and son in boxing to be labelled with that and they were adamant and have been proved to be not guilty. It’s how fight fans will look at it and again, everyone will have their own view. Some will say he’s cleared his name while others won’t be having it and unfortunately that’s what they will have to deal with.

“But if they put on a good performance and a good show and then after the fight, the respect is there which is always the case in boxing where you can have so much hatred for each other and knock lumps out of each other for 12 rounds, and then there’s respect (at the end of the fight), and if that’s the case (then it will be forgotten). If it ends up being a good fight or a trilogy then I think it will be old news if this is the fight we think it can be."

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