Chris Eubank Jr sits in his hotel room, locked in the extremes of a savage weight cut. Boiling down in weight gets even harder at the age of 35 but the words still flow freely. Eubank Jr can produce intelligent insights as easily as he churns out typical bombast and so he has no difficulty in explaining why his fight on Saturday night with Conor Benn will darken the British sporting landscape this week.

They were first meant to fight in October 2022, when a manufactured scrap was built on the enmity between their fathers, Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, in the 1990s. Separated by two weight divisions, the sons were brought together in a dubious catchweight contest while banging on about family feuds and legacies.

Those lucrative plans were ruined when Benn tested positive for clomifene on two separate occasions. Despite embarrassing attempts to proceed with the bout it was eventually cancelled on the Thursday of fight week.

Two and a half years on, they will walk to the ring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rather than at the original venue of the O2. Eubank Jr calmly outlines why they need space for three times as many spectators: “For better or worse, controversy, drama and scandal sells. This is what this fight has been bathed in over the last few years. People are invested in not only the story of our fathers having two of the best British bouts...
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