CHRIS EUBANK JR still wants to fight Conor Benn – but he will never forgive him for their mega-money bout getting canned.
The British Boxing Board of Control cancelled last month’s showdown when it was revealed Benn had failed a doping test – later revealed to be two.
But the 33-year-old son of British ring legend Chris Sr is still eager to rearrange the family feud with the son of fellow 1990s icon Nigel Benn.
Eubank Jr has now lined up a January 21 clash with Liam Smith but will revisit the Benn rivalry in 2023 in the hope of punishing him for the loss of their original bout.
Jr – who remains furious he was never informed of Benn’s first failed test given before the bout was made – said: “Even if, by some miracle, he is found not guilty, he is still guilty.
“It has been out there too long and everybody already thinks he cheated.
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“A lawyer, a piece of paper, or the King of England can say he is forgiven, it doesn’t matter, he is guilty in the court of public perception and he has to accept that.
“That’s the only way he will be able to move forward.
“If he plays the victim and blames contamination and says everyone has it in for him, if he keeps going down that route, then nobody is going to be able to forgive him.
“The verdict is out, it doesn’t matter, what comes next, he is guilty in the eyes of the public and once you are branded by the public, that’s it.
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“There is no forgetting and I don’t know about forgiving. That fight is still probably going to happen down the line.
“I don’t need to have forgiveness in my mind. He is a guy I will fight at some point.
“Before it was about our fathers, we were fighting to uphold our names and legacies.
“But now it is personal and we have our own story.”
Benn’s first red flag for female fertility drug clomiphene occurred in late July and his team was informed in August but assumed there had been an issue with the VADA testing procedure.
The fight was announced by promoter Eddie Hearn at the start of August but a second test – taken on September 1 and reported to both fighters and their teams on September 23 – came back with traces again.
Benn, 26, then telephoned his rival and explained the situation and they agreed to continue with the O2 catchweight bout.
But Eubank Jr has now revealed the first failed test was kept a secret from him and he would never have accepted the bout of he had known the truth.
He said: “I was never told about the first failed drugs test. Which is pretty incredible but true. Nobody told me – Conor nor Eddie.
“When I found out he had failed a test, I hoped it might have been a freak accident or something had gone wrong, a blip.
“But when you find out there was a second one, you realise that these guys were really out to get me.
“I was never told about the July test. I would not have accepted the fight at the start of August if I had known that he had failed a test. By the time I did find out it was too late.”
Benn insists he is innocent but has ripped up his BBBofC licence, claiming they have a vendetta against him, making it almost impossible to make the fight in the UK unless the matter is resolved.
Eubank Jr feels that he is now in the driving seat and he will control what weight and where they eventually settle this simmering 30-year-old family rivalry.
The Brighton brawler – who still boiled down to 159lbs on a Saturday morning and did not look healthy, even though the bout was axed – said: “I lost a lot of money. Training camps are no joke.
“In terms of the money that came out of my pocket it was a lot because of the travel, food, sparring partners, I cover all of that.
“We will not fight at that weight again. He doesn’t deserve me going through that again.
“You saw the photo, it was not fun and I didn’t feel great.
“There would have been an effect on my performance but I would have got through it, 100 per cent.
“He messed up once and now I hold all the bargaining chips, he has nothing to bargain with.
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“If he still wants the fight to happen then it is my way or the highway. It’s such a British occasion that it would be a shame to not have it in the UK.
“If it happens I will always push for it to be here for the fans, if the time comes.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
