Chris Eubank Jr has been accused of ignoring his trainer’s advice during his unanimous decision defeat to Conor Benn, with Tony Bellew giving an insight into what he heard ringside.
It was an evening to forget for Eubank Jr. Last time around, he got the better of Benn with a dominant display, winning the contest by scores of 116-112 on all three scorecards.
But on Saturday night, the 36-year-old appeared a shadow of his former self after struggling to make weight. In fact, Eubank Jr was dropped twice, with the judges scoring the bout 119-107, 116-110, 118-108 in Benn's favour.
Speaking in his post-fight interview, Benn made his feelings clear on a potential trilogy fight.
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"This is the end of the Benn-Eubank saga, over. Chris has twins coming and I have my boy, but this ends here," he said. "Everyone says I can't box, put that in your pipe and smoke it."
One of the big talking points was Eubank Jr's punching stats. Through six rounds in his first fight against Benn, he threw a total of 52 punches per round, but on Saturday, he recorded just 26 per round.
Former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew claimed Eubank Jr was ignoring trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, who was "screaming instructions" at him in the corner.
"This version of Conor Benn will beat him 10 times out of 10," Bellew told DAZN. "He can’t deal with boxing someone who is quicker than him. And that’s the problem. He wasn’t listening to BoMac.
"BoMac was screaming the right instructions for him to follow and he didn’t want to listen. He’s the most expensive man in the world and you’ve paid him just to give you a drink.
"He didn’t listen to his advice. He was telling him to put the jab on him. Use the jab, create the distance. And he wasn’t listening. And he’s paid the price."
Bellew added: "I will give him credit, he’s a brave boy. The two of them are absolute warriors."
Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre made some interesting comments ahead of Eubank Jr vs Benn rematch
McIntyre, who is widely regarded as one of the best trainers in the world, responded to Eubank Jr's critics during fight week.
Speaking to The Stomping Ground, he said: “Ain’t no tiring out after 20 punches, no f**k that. Who said that, Shane McGuigan? He wants to put a stamp on the win, that’s what he definitely wants to do.
"He wants to put a stamp on it, and I can see it. I can see the way he’s been training in camp, and that’s what the trainer wants. You want to see the fighter man push extra and push more. Look at all the mistakes, man. Look at all the mistakes.
“What Chris did, what Conor did. Where you can improve, Chris. We can capitalise off of Conor. Once you get punched in the mouth, you’re gonna go back to doing what you’re doing. But if you work on it, day in and day out for months and months at a time, you give me 10% on what we worked on in the gym, I’ll be satisfied with that.
“You can’t go in there and try to change a fighter’s style. That’s his style, that’s the way he fights. But if you give me 10% of what you worked on in the gym, it’s going to come out in the fight, slowly but surely, it’s going to keep coming back."
McIntyre added: “I think they underestimating Chris’ ability to be able to win this in a good fashion."
Topics: Conor Benn, Chris Eubank Jr, Tony Bellew, Boxing, Boxing News
Jack Kenmare