Facial Damage And A Planned Return: Eubank Jr. Victorious Over Benn In Grueling London Encounter

Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed tonight that the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn rematch is already planned for September back at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. However, that will depend on the injuries the two fighters sustained tonight being healed in time for them to start training camp.

(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)

“Superstar” Benn

Despite winning a 12-round unanimous decision, Eubank Jr. (35-3, 25 KOs) took a lot of facial damage. There are reports that he suffered a broken jaw in the fight.

Given how swollen his jaw looked afterward, it’s believed that he did suffer that injury. He won by the scores 116-112, 116-112, and 116-112. Hearn felt those scores were too wide, but he does acknowledge that Eubank Jr. probably did enough to win.

The performance by Benn (23-1, 14 KOs) had Hearn teary-eyed while being interviewed. He says Conor is now a “superstar.” He might be jumping the gun a little bit because he did lose, and there are many better fighters at 160 than Eubank Jr. that could have made it a mismatch tonight.

Hearn says Benn can win world titles at 147 and 154. Presumably, he’s talking about Benn potentially beating WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios and WBC and WBO 154 lb champ Sebastian Fundora. Those are the only two that Conor would stand any chance against.

Eubank Hospitalized

“Chris Eubank Jr is in the hospital right now. The media says he has a broken jaw. I don’t know if that’s the case. We don’t want too many fights like that,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about his not wanting his fighter, Conor Benn, to be worn down in additional wars like the one we witnessed tonight between him and Chris Eubank Jr.

Benn hit Eubank Jr. with some massive shots early in the fight before he figured out how to neutralize his power. It’s understandable why he suffered a facial injury.

What Hearn is leaving out is that Benn looked lumped up, too. His face was severely swollen. That’s from the many power punches that Eubank Jr. hit him with. He landed 367 of 912 total punches for a 40.24% connect rate.

“In the 11th and 12th, when he had nothing left in the tank, he never stopped trying,” said Hearn, who was close to tears, talking about Benn.

Conor was trying, but he took a bad beating in both of those rounds. To show what the depleted Benn was dealing with. Eubank Jr. threw 109 punches in round 11 and 122 in round 12. That’s an insane number for a middleweight to throw, especially late in a fight.

You can understand why Hearn might be having some misgivings about sending Conor back out to fight this guy again because it’s likely to be just as bad in the rematch. Hearn obviously wants to keep matching Benn in big fights for as long as possible because he’s a money maker in British boxing.

Benn’s Appeal

Granted, he’s not talented enough to beat the top welterweights, such as Jaron Ennis, or junior middleweights like Bakhram Murtazaliev. He can defeat certain guys when matched appropriately. What we saw tonight is that Benn can’t beat Eubank Jr, and it won’t be any different in the rematch.

“Conor Benn is now a young man who is a superstar in British boxing, even globally. My phone is blowing up from America. So many people watched that, going, ‘This kid is unreal.’ He can go to any arena in the country at 147, and he can win world titles at 147 and 154. So, we got to get it right.

“Tonight, he changed his life financially. He’s good for life. That’s always important, of course. He wants the rematch. His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] wants the rematch. They’ve even announced the date, back in Spurs in September. So, it’s very likely that could happen. Let’s let the boys rest of and look at Eubank’s injuries as well,” said Hearn.