Conor Benn reacts as Chris Eubank Jr fight falls through again

Fourteen months after the fight was first due to take place, it has collapsed again

Conor Benn has admitted he thinks he will never fight Chris Eubank Jr, after a fight between the pair collapsed again.

Benn was due to fight Eubank Jr in October 2022, but the bout was cancelled on short notice after it was revealed that Benn had failed two drug tests. The 27-year-old was subsequently stripped of his British boxing licence and suspended by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad)

The World Boxing Council later cleared the unbeaten welterweight of any intentional wrongdoing, before the National Anti-Doping Panel lifted a provisional suspension on Benn, but the British Boxing Board of Control and Ukad have appealed that move. At the time of writing, Benn is still unable to fight in Britain.

He returned to the ring in Florida in September, however, beating Rodolfo Orozco in Florida after obtaining a Texas boxing licence. Benn’s attention then turned to reorganising his clash with Eubank Jr for 3 February at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

However, contract negotiations have reportedly stalled. “I can’t see the fight with me and Chris happening in general,” Benn told Boxing Social on Thursday (14 December).

“The money he wants is silly money, bearing in mind he’s [already] getting paid silly money – career-highest payday to fight a welterweight. He’s lost his pen. Would I wanna fight me if I was him? Probably not, he’s at the end of his career.

“I’m gonna move forward with my career, there’s plenty of big fights that are being circulated for me. 3 February, the show still goes on, we have four opponents already lined up. We’ve agreed to all of them, so hopefully we’ll have an announcement this weekend.

“Listen, I’m not gonna wait around for this guy who wants to mess around. I’m 27, I feel like I’m just getting started, with a good five or six years left in the game. My name’s in talks with every big fight, whether it’s 140[lbs], 147, 154 – people wanna see me in these fights.

“I’m gonna get paid regardless, it was just a matter of me wanting to give this guy a beating. You’ve got to say he’s scared. You have to say he’s scared [...] Career-highest payday to fight someone who’s coming up two weights to fight you.

“It was a fight that I wanted to give the British public, they deserve it, they wanna see the fight. Will the fight happen in the future? Definitely not, I won’t wait around for it.”

Eubank Jr, 34, last fought in September, stopping Liam Smith to avenge a TKO loss from January.

Prior to Benn’s comeback win over Orozco, the 27-year-old had last fought in April 2022.