Eubank vs Benn: Date, fight time, undercard, prediction, ring walks and odds

Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn fight this weekend as the arch-rivals finally settle their differences with a highly-anticipated London grudge match.

One of the biggest all-British showdowns boxing has seen in recent years is a contest more than two-and-a-half years in the making, having originally supposed to have taken place back in October 2022 before being cancelled at late notice after Benn failed two voluntary drugs tests.

Benn has always denied any wrongdoing after testing positive for clomifene and has since fought to clear his name, finally able to continue his stalled career in the UK in November.

Tensions with long-time foe Eubank Jr continued to simmer until confirmation in January that the duo would lock horns in April, more than 31 years after their famous fathers – Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn – contested the second of their blockbuster title fights in the 1990s.

One of British boxing’s most intense rivalries of that decade has since been passed down, with a genuine dislike having built between the duo and multiple clashes erupted between Eubank Jr and Benn, including at a chaotic press conference in February when Eubank Jr slapped his opponent with an egg during a wild face-off – a reference to the WBC’s report in 2023 that a “highly-elevated consumption of eggs” was a “reasonable explanation” for Benn’s failed tests – that ended in a brawl.

Such a headline-grabbing stunt earned Eubank Jr a hefty fine of £100,000 from the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC), with the pair largely kept at more of a distance in their media engagements since then in a bid to try and keep the peace.

Whereas the original bout in 2022 was going to be staged at a catchweight of 157lbs, this high-profile meeting is being fought at Eubank Jr’s natural home of middleweight and 160lbs, with Benn making a huge jump up two divisions from welterweight.

There is a strict 10-pound rehydration clause once again in place that means Eubank Jr – who has also spent plenty of time fighting at the super-middleweight limit of 168lbs during his career – and Benn cannot weigh more than 170lbs on fight day. Eubank Jr cutting weight and Benn moving up so far from 147lbs has led to huge criticism from Eubank Sr, who will not be in his son’s corner on fight night with their relationship having broken down in recent years.

For Eubank Jr it’s a first outing since October and only his fourth since early 2022, having successfully avenged his shock stoppage defeat by Liam Smith in September 2023 before flooring former European middleweight champion Kamil Szeremeta four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage to claim the vacant IBO title on the original Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard in Riyadh.