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Nick Parkinson
LONDON – Despite the initial speculation and controversy over the split draw decision in 1993, Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn never met for a third time and their sons look like they will also swerve a trilogy fight following Conor Benn’s dominant points win over a sluggish Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday.
Most felt Nigel Benn should have been awarded victory in a world super middleweight title unification clash that attracted a live television audience of 16.5 million viewers in the United Kingdom and was shown in over 60 countries worldwide.
The two English rivals then went their separate ways to have big world title fights in the years that followed.
And that’s what Conor (24-1, 14 KOs) and Chris Jr (35-4, 25 KOs) look set to do after their second encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, move on to fight someone else despite Benn levelling the score at 1-1 with the 119-107, 116-110 and 118-108 unanimous points victory in a non-title middleweight bout.
The rematch between the two English rivals was surprisingly one-side — Benn outlanded a reticent Eubank Jr. by a massive 173-68 punches, according to CompuBox statistics — and lacked the drama of their first fight until Benn dropped Eubank twice in the final round.
“This is the end of the Benn and Eubank saga…over,” a triumphant Benn said after his career-best win in front of a crowd of 60,000-plus at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Both Eubank and Benn will seriously wonder whether their careers actually need a third episode of their intense rivalry. These fights have elevated their profiles and can catapult them both into big fights, possibly for titles, against other opponents in 2026.
Neither has held a full world title belt and that surely will be a goal both prioritise, especially Eubank Jr. who has not got long left in his career at the age of 36.
Benn, 29, looks set to return to welterweight, after stepping up two weight classes to face Eubank Jr. earlier this year.
If Benn can still make the 147 pounds welterweight limit, then a clash against Northern Ireland’s IBF world champion Lewis Crocker seems a strong possibility since both are promoted by Matchroom.
Benn began 2025 by calling on WBC champion Marios Barrios to face him, and that is another option.
Junior middleweight could also be an option for Benn, who has had the luxury of making 160 pounds for the last two fights. Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr are being linked for a junior middleweight clash in 2026 and Benn could position himself to face the winner, while another intriguing option could be fight English rival Jack Catterall, who had a good win on the undercard at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Catterall (32-2, 14 KOs), 32, from Chorley near Manchester, boosted his hopes of fighting for a world title in 2026 with a Round 11 stoppage win over Ekow Essuman.
In his second fight at welterweight, Catterall floored his English rival in Round 4 before finishing Essuman’s spirited effort with a left uppercut that sent him falling through the ropes.
Victory moves Catterall a step closer to a shot at the WBO world welterweight title, held by Brian Norman Jr, who defends the belt vs. fellow American Devin Haney next Saturday. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn said he expects Catterall to be made mandatory challenger for the WBO world welterweight title.
Eubank Jr.’s future is less certain.
Hearn, who guides the career of Benn, claimed earlier this week he believed that 36-year-old Eubank Jr. will retire win or lose vs. Benn in the rematch.
Eubank Jr., who won the first fight vs. Benn by scores of 116-112 on all three scorecards in April, was non-committal about his future in the ring Saturday and said: “I have to go away and deal with some of the things I’ve been dealing with over the past few months.”
Their first fight was absorbing with fierce exchanges, which Eubank deservedly won by a good margin. But it still left its mark on Eubank, who spent days in hospital following the fight with dehydration.
He then looked a shell of the fighter who beat Benn in the first fight and questions are being asked if he is still the same fighter.
“Is it worth me going into these environments where little pieces of me are taken each time,” Eubank Jr. said following his unanimous points (116-112 on all three scorecards) win over Benn in April, also at the home of English Premier League club Spurs.
His father Chris Sr., a world champion at middleweight and super middleweight in the 1990s, will most likely advise him to walk away, just as he did following his son’s win over Conor in April.
Chris Sr. was even against Chris Jr. taking the rematch because of a rehydration clause which stipulated both boxers could put on no more than 10 pounds between Friday’s weigh-in and Saturday morning.
However, after 14 years as a professional boxer, Eubank Jr.’s career probably has at least one more big night and if he does retire on a loss to his biggest rival, it would be a shock.
– Boxing results: Benn dominates Eubank, Catterall, Azim score KO wins
– Benn: I’ll ‘go home and cry’ after beating Eubank
– Anthony Joshua-Jake Paul not agreed, Tyson Fury planned for 2026 – Eddie Hearn
Earlier this year, Eubank Jr. was linked to facing former undisputed world super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2026, but that fight looks in serious jeopardy following his pallid performance in Tottenham.
Perhaps making the middleweight limit was too much for Eubank Jr., but his title opportunities are limited at super middleweight as pound-for-pound No 1 Terence Crawford (who shares the same trainer Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntrye as him) holds all four world titles.
After two huge fights, Benn has emerged with more options than Eubank Jr. it seems.
