Chris Eubank Jr. has broken his silence after missing weight on Friday morning (April 25) ahead of Saturday’s bout against Conor Benn at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Benn, 28, arrived first and weighed in well under the 160lbs weight limit, tipping the scales at 156.4lbs. However, Eubank, 35, took to the scales around 50 minutes after his opponent.
The naturally bigger man weighed in over the 160lb limit at 160.05 lbs. As a result, he was fined a reported £375,000 that will be added to Benn’s fight purse.
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Eubank, who has fought at super-middleweight on several occasions during his career, had previously been warned of the dangers of a rehydration clause in the fight contract which states “neither boxer can be more than 10lbs over the middleweight limit when their weight is checked between 8 and 9 am on Saturday morning”, according to Sky Sports.
Shortly after the weigh-ins on Friday, Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn gave his thoughts.
"It's the same weight that he's made for his last five fights," Hearn told Ring Magazine. "It's his championship weight, he's a middleweight and he's talking fighting for the middleweight championship of the world. He arrived an hour late and even then he was .1 over and still had time to do something, but he just hung around.
"I think actually he could have made the weight if he switched things up."
Eubank finally broke his silence on the situation with a social media post - see below - at 2:17pm (BST) on Friday.
"Pain is temporary… Glory is forever", he captioned three videos of him profusely sweating in an attempt to make weight.
What has Chris Eubank Jr. said about 160lb weight limit?
"It’s tough," Eubank Jr. said when speaking about the weight cut.
"I’m not going to lie. It’s not fun, it’s not nice. It’s part of the sport having to boil yourself down to a certain weight.
"Adding in the fact I can’t even drink as much as I want after the weigh-in adds another element of discomfort [and] hardship to what I’m going through."
What has Chris Eubank Sr. said about his son's weight cut?
Eubank Sr. has been a vocal opponent of the fight and will not be in his son's corner come Saturday night.
"I am more concerned about that [the weight] than anything else," Eubank Sr. told Sun Sport.
"I don’t want my son getting down to 160lbs. And that is why I have spoken about people trying to murder my boy by boiling him down to 157 lbs."
He added: "I would be in my son’s corner if he was fighting at the right weight. But it mocks everything I stand for and fought for.
"I am his dad and the fact he has chosen not to listen means all I can do is step back and watch the car crash - because it will be a car crash.
“He doesn’t understand that this is boxing and you lose your faculties, this is dangerous."
Where to watch the Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn fight
At the time of writing this, fans can buy verified resale tickets to the event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on StubHub from £38 and Viagogo from £71.
If you’re planning to watch from home, DAZN is the exclusive streaming provider for the match. The event will kick off at 5pm BST on Saturday April 26. For a limited time only, the fight PPV price has plummeted from £21.99 down to £19.95. It's good news for new customers too, as you can watch the match as part of a seven-day no-commitment free trial here.
Topics: Chris Eubank Jr, Conor Benn, Boxing, Eddie Hearn
Luke Davies