Conor Benn stunned Chris Eubank Jr with a dominant display as he inflicted revenge on his arch-rival in a remarkably one-sided rematch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
‘The Destroyer’ delivered a flawless punch-perfect performance on Saturday night to emphatically avenge the first defeat of his professional career in an epic first fight in April, boxing brilliantly throughout and almost producing a stunning last-gasp stoppage as he floored Eubank Jr twice in the closing stages of a dramatic 12th round.
Eubank Jr - who looked lethargic and subdued from the outset - clung on for the final bell, but judges’ scorecards of 119-107, 116-110 and 118-108 reflected Benn’s total domination as he secured his family’s first win over their long-time rivals at the fourth attempt, following his initial loss earlier this year and a defeat and a contentious draw for dad Nigel against Chris Eubank Sr in high-profile middleweight and super-middleweight world title fights in the 1990s.
However, Benn quickly ruled out the prospect of a decisive trilogy fight, declaring the bitter 35-year saga now over for good as he stated his ambition to instead return to his natural home at welterweight and become a world champion for the first time.
“It’s been some journey and I feel like this is the end of the Benn-Eubank saga,” Benn told DAZN in the ring, before reiterating his ambition to challenge for Mario Barrios’ WBC title at 147lbs next.
“Done and finished, it’s over. I know Chris has twins coming and I’ve got my boy. But this ends here. This is generational. This has never been done before in history.
“Everyone's saying, I can't box? Put that in your pipe and smoke it... credit to Chris man, that's all I say. Thank you for sharing the ring with me. Not bad for two silver spoon kids!”
Eubank Jr accepted that the better man had won on the night, but did not rule out the prospect of a third fight with Benn at some stage in the future.
“I've been through hell and back to get to this night, and it is what it is. I tried my best, and listen, the kid fought hard. He fought tough. He's got power,” he said.
“Who knows, maybe we will see something new between me and him and maybe we won't, but for right now, it's all about this man. It's his night.
“Conor Benn was the best man tonight, so congratulations to him.”
In Saturday’s eventful co-main event, Jack Catterall withstood a spirited fightback from Ekow Essuman to win the WBO Global welterweight title with an 11th-round stoppage and potentially put himself in line for a shot at the winner of next weekend’s clash between full WBO world champion Brian Norman Jr and Devin Haney in Riyadh.
Former cruiserweight contender Richard Riakporhe made it successive wins at heavyweight with a ruthless second-round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Tommy Welch to collect the Commonwealth Silver belt, while Adam Azim delivered a dominant 12th-round stoppage of late replacement opponent Kurt Scoby to become WBO Inter-Continental super-lightweight champion.
Ishmael Davis outpointed Sam Gilley in a thriller to win the British and Commonwealth super-welterweight titles, after the show opened with Liverpool flyweight prospect Mikie Tallon stopping Fezan Shahid to move to 11-0.
