CHRIS EUBANK JR wasted little time before switching to attack mode, targeting both Eddie Hearn and British boxing chief Robert Smith at today’s press conference for his rematch with Conor Benn.
The pair will once again meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on November 15 after both combatants treated fans to an enthralling dustup last April.
Back then, Eubank won a convincing unanimous decision through 12 rounds, with all three judges scoring it 116-112 in his favour.
He did, however, spend the following few days in a hospital bed, recovering from not only his hellacious battle with Benn but also the severe dehydration he experienced after cutting so much weight.
Despite campaigning at 160lbs for most of his career, it would seem that now, especially at the age of 35, Eubank’s body is simply no longer designed to meet the middleweight limit.
That said, the former world title challenger has nonetheless agreed to meet his rival down at middleweight for a second time, while also promising to keep below a 170lb rehydration limit.
Earlier this year, Eubank came in just a shade above 160lbs on the Friday, but rather impressively kept below 170lbs at his second-day weigh-in.
At today’s media event for their rematch, meanwhile, the outspoken Brit accused Hearn, Benn’s promoter, of attempting to sabotage his route to the hospital back in April.
“For my entire life, I have been the villain – the bad guy,” Eubank started. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but from what I’m seeing online… I don’t know if I’m that guy anymore.
“One thing I know for sure is that Conor Benn – he put on a great fight – he went out there and did what I did not expect him to do.
“[But] if you [Benn] keep letting Eddie Hearn blow smoke up you arse, you’ll end up being an even bigger embarrassment than he is. These men are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
“They did everything they could to try and destroy me in this fight [the first fight]. Even on fight night, they blocked my team from coming to the stadium for 30 minutes.”
“I was actually so dehydrated [after their fight] that one of my toe nails, on my big toe, fell off. Then these scumbags blocked the ambulance [he left in] for 20 minutes.”
In response, Matchroom promoter Hearn simply said: “I’ve never heard so much waffle in all my life.”
Eubank then targeted Smith, the General Secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, and extended his list of accusations.
He continued: “The Board has graciously awarded me with a multitude of fines over the last six months, but my question is: Where is this money going?”
“The money seems to be lying in the pockets of fat cats that sit on the Board, like Robert Smith. It’s not being put back into the community, that’s for sure.”
