Chris Eubank Jr hits back at Eddie Hearn after halting Ricky Hatton tribute

Chris Eubank Jr prevented Eddie Hearn from paying his own personal tribute to Ricky Hatton at the launch press conference for his rematch with Conor Benn

Chris Eubank Jr, left, accused Conor Benn, right and Eddie Hearn of dirty tactics in their first bout (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

Chris Eubank Jr has defended his behaviour at the launch press conference for his rematch with Conor Benn after he refused to allow Eddie Hearn to pay his respects to the late Ricky Hatton.

British boxing legend Hatton was found dead at his home at the age of 46 on Sunday and Wednesday’s press conference began with a tribute to the former two-weight world champion.

Shortly afterwards, Hearn attempted to give his own tribute to Hatton but was cut off by Eubank Jr, just like he was throughout the series of press conferences for the first fight with Benn.

Hearn branded Eubank Jr an “a*******” for interrupting him, but the middleweight contender took to X on Wednesday evening to hit back at the promoter.

Alongside a video of his tense exchange with Hearn, Eubank Jr wrote: “Imagine using Ricky Hatton’s passing as a way to try & get to talk at a press conference. New low from Hearn here. I apologise on Eddie’s behalf. Awesome tribute to Ricky at the start of the presser though… he really was a legend. Thoughts & prayers are with his family.”

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Promoter Eddie Hearn during a press conference (Adam Davy/PA Wire)

Despite his best attempts to silence Hearn, there were several spats between Eubank Jr and the Matchroom boss at the press conference ahead of the November 15 rematch with Benn, which will be shown live on DAZN.

Eubank Jr accused Matchroom of delaying his ambulance from delivering him to the hospital after beating Benn in April when he was suffering from severe exhaustion.

He also took aim at British Boxing Board of Control chief Robert Smith for jeopardising his weigh-in, allowing Benn to fight with horsehair in his gloves and escorting his “arch-nemesis” Billy Joe Saunders towards his dressing room on fight night.

Hearn responded by claiming Eubank Jr was “chatting s***” and said his “mask was slipping” after Eubank Jr proclaimed he was the people’s champion following his victory over Benn earlier this year.

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Eubank Jr will be aiming for a repeat win in November, and also appears to be intent on getting under the skin of Hearn and the rest of Team Benn in the build-up to the highly anticipated rematch that is now less than two months away.

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