Violence is a guarantee in professional boxing of course, the hurt game, but it is a sweet science at the same time as well.
It is a game of precision and this weekend’s big Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn fight will have plenty of both boxing and fighting in their boxing match.
Promoter of Benn, Eddie Hearn, has seen it all in the sport.
Speaking to the Stomping Ground podcast, Hearn gave his view of where he sees the fighters’ mindsets at the moment:
“Chris always seems cool, calm, collected. I’d use the word nonchalant. Stick him anywhere and I feel like it wouldn’t get to him—whether that’s a bit of bravado or an act, I don’t really know. Conor—I wouldn’t say the occasion’s getting to him, but I’d say he can definitely feel and absorb the magnitude. Two completely different personalities and individuals. Eubank, I think, is quite arrogant—he’s got that demeanor. Then you’ve got Conor, who’s very emotional, reactive, fired up—like his dad. You only have to look back at the buildup between their parents in the first and second fights. Nigel wanted to tear him to pieces, and Eubank would walk in nice and calm. They’re father and son—they’re very similar. A lot will come down to controlling the emotions on Saturday. You’ve got a situation where you walk through a tunnel and around the pitch at Spurs in front of 65,000 people to get into an 18-by-18-foot ring to have a fight with another man. Interesting—same as the first fight that fell through. To have a fight—it’s going to be a violent fight, and it’s going to be a fight until one can’t go on anymore. That’s quite daunting, if I’m honest. But that’s what they do, and that’s where they’re comfortable.”
Hearn brings up a good point on the occasion of the whole stadium as well as a factor.
That can effect people in a big way.
Who gets out of the blocks fastest in round one may tell a lot in terms of the eb and flow of the fight.
Fast starts in big occasion stadium events are often useful for fighters.
Neither of them will want to come in cold into the ring.
Great card this weekend too with UK fighters, fighters from Ireland and international fighters from the US and more as well.
Best of luck to all boxers, trainers and teams involved.