Chris Eubank Jr: ‘If I lose to Conor Benn, I retire’

Eubank Jr will face Benn on 8 October, 29 years after his father’s second fight with Nigel Benn

Chris Eubank Jr has doubled down on his claims that he will retire from boxing if he loses to Conor Benn.

The Britons will face one another at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday 8 October, almost exactly 29 years after the fighters’ fathers clashed for the second time.

Chris Eubank stopped Nigel Benn in the ninth round of their first in-ring meeting in 1990, before the rivals fought to a split draw three years later. Now, in one of the biggest British fights of this generation, the pair’s sons will go head to head.

“There’s a huge amount of pressure on me for this fight, absolutely,” Eubank Jr said in a joint-interview with Benn on Good Morning Britain on Friday (30 September).

“I’ve said it before, and this is the first time I’ve ever said it throughout my entire career: If I lose this fight, I retire. I love fighting, I love the sport, I love being a boxer. I don’t want it to end, [but] losing to a Conor Benn at this stage in my career, it means I’m not the fighter that I thought I was – or that I think I am.

“I want to challenge for world titles within the next six to 12 months; I can’t do that with a loss to Conor Benn. My father retired at 32, I’m 33 years old, so this is an extremely important fight.

“There’s a lot of pressure on me to not only win but to uphold the name, the family legacy that we have created. Right now the Eubank name is in front of the Benn name in the history books, and I’m gonna keep it that way.”

Benn, 26, is moving up two weight classes for the 157lbs catchweight bout, while Eubank Jr will be moving down slightly.

Benn is unbeaten as a professional at 21-0 with 14 knockouts, while Eubank Jr is 32-2 with 23 KOs.

Eubank Jr’s only professional losses both came via decision – against Billy Joe Saunders in 2014 and versus George Groves in a 2018 world title fight. Since the latter defeat, Eubank Jr has won six fights in a row.

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