Chris Eubank Jr alludes to pre-fight ‘issues’ before Conor Benn loss: ‘I’ve been through hell and back’

Chris Eubank Jr looked hollow. From the first round his jab was slow, his punch output absent. Even the ferocious aggression, that had been key to sealing a memorable victory in his first fight with Conor Benn, deserted him in Saturday’s rematch.

His technique tired, his urgency only briefly stirred when Benn stung him with solid shots, Eubank’s performance had fallen far from what he showed in their first fight in April.

In the 12th and final round, Benn hurt him. A one-two blasted up and over and shook Eubank to his boots. His legs quivered and they abandoned him too, leaving him to fall clumsily to the canvas.

But Eubank still retained the kind of grim determination that only another fighter can understand.

He declined to stay down. He hauled himself upright, knowing that were seconds left in the contest but understanding too that throughout every one of them Benn would unleash any and every punch he had left.

His tormentor did storm into him, he did club him back down to the canvas. This time Eubank fell headlong. Still he rose and he stood again, eyes glassy as he got himself through to the end of the bout.

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Highlights from the rematch between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pictures courtesy of DAZN.

Losing a boxing match, especially one that has seen the fighter sent twice to the canvas, is its own kind of purgatory. But Eubank revealed that struggles had affected him before the bout.

“I’ve been through hell and back to make it here,” Eubank said afterwards. “I genuinely thought that regardless of the issues that I’ve been dealing with that I would be able to go in there and win, use my boxing skills, use what you guys saw in that first fight to beat Conor Benn.”

But he added: “From that first round I realised that I was mistaken. But it’s okay, I’m a fighter, this is what I do. Regardless of the dangers and the risk, we go to war. That’s what we do. I tried my best.

“Conor Benn put on a hell of a fight, he put on a great performance, he did everything that was asked of him and I congratulate him for his performance.”

He did suggest that whatever the issue was, it was something that he still needed to “heal” from, but he would not discuss it in any further detail. He didn’t want to make an excuse for his performance.

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Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn discuss whether there could be a trilogy fight between the two of them.

“We’re not taking away from what Conor did,” Eubank continued. “You guys saw what I did in the first fight. You guys can come to your conclusions after watching what just happened.

“You guys saw what I was in there,” he said. “I thought that once those bright lights hit and that round went, I was in there, I’d find something. And I tried. I tried hard. But it wasn’t there.

“Conor was strong and he was fast and he was tough and congratulations to him.

“I need to heal,” he added. “I need to deal with what I’m dealing with and then after that I can start thinking about my path in the sport.”

Could that future direction include an exit from boxing? Eubank has revealed that he will become a father himself, to twins. That could change his perspective on his hard trade.

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Connor Benn’s hilarious reaction when asked about Chris Eubank Jr’s ring walk with American rapper 50 Cent.

Speaking of his rival Conor Benn suggested: “He’s got more important things to worry about. He’s won in life with getting his twin boys. If I was him I would look at boxing, see what reasons he’s boxing for, because ultimately he’s a dad of two now. That’s always a priority.

“It’s not down to me to say should he retire, should he not retire, that’s between him and his team.

“But he’s got bigger things, life, happening right now”

Speaking before this second fight, Eubank did say: “Obviously boxing’s a dangerous sport, you want to be there for your kids as they grow. These types of fights that I’m in, that I can be in, they take a bit out of you every time you do it. So it’s something to think about. But as of right now I’m in love with my life as a fighter.”

He didn’t expect fatherhood to mellow him. “I mean I’m already mellow. You can’t get more mellow than me,” he said. “But I don’t believe that having children is going to change me as a man and change my personality. I am who I am.

“My kids will maybe enhance the type of man that I am but I don’t think it’s going to change me.

“I’m excited for them to grow and learn what their father does or did.”

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Chris Eubank Snr and Nigel Benn rolled back the years as they went face-to-face at their sons’ press conference ahead of their eagerly anticipated re-match this coming weekend.

Eubank has a complex relationship with his own father. Eubank Sr’s reputation and personality has been entwinned with his son’s boxing career. Senior’s historic rivalry with Benn’s father, Nigel, fuelled the two-fight saga the sons have endured.

Eubank Jr was estranged from his father for a period of time, but they mended the rift to join forces for the first fight. Eubank Sr was also at his side for the second, even though he urged his son to retire before this most recent bout.

Junior doesn’t always agree with Senior, but understood him better when he stepped into a father-figure role for his nephew, after Raheem’s father Sebastian, Eubank Jr’s brother, tragically died.

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Watch the first fight back as Chris Eubank Jr claimed a dramatic points victory over Conor Benn in a hugely entertaining clash in April.

“I learned to have sympathy for his feelings really being around my nephew Raheem. When you fall in love with a kid you start to understand I don’t want any type of pain or harm coming to this human being and I’d never felt love like that for anybody really. So that made me understand my father’s feelings towards me,” Eubank Jr said.

“It’s a massive thing to have him back in my life, especially now because he is their grandfather. It’s a very important relationship.

“Two years ago, when we hadn’t spoken for a couple of years, if I had a kid then it’s like what do I do? Now I know that he’s accessible to me, it’s very important. It’s a great feeling.”

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Throwback to when Chris Eubank Jr and his father made an epic ring walk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium complete with an orchestra for the first fight.

Where does this leave Chris Eubank Jr? Can a happy, contented man fight on? Should a happy, contented man fight on?

“I get to do what I love every day regardless of the trials and tribulations I go through, I’m still doing what I love to do,” Eubank said.

“I’m alive, I’m happy, I’m a fighter.

“I’m still fulfilled in life so I’m good. I’m okay.”