Eubank & Benn to be ‘kept apart’ at Thursday’s face-off

Following a contentious confrontation on Tuesday, Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. will not be able to attend the Thursday news conference.

Benn’s father Nigel and promoter Eddie Hearn yelled out in rage after Eubank smashed an egg across his face, causing a brawl on stage and causing a furious backlash from Eubank.

On April 26th, Benn and Eubank will square off in a bitter rivalry at a separate press conference on Thursday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the match will take place.

Thirty-five-year-old Eubank will be favourite against 28-year-old Benn, who steps up from the welterweight limit of 10st 7lb (147lb) for the 11st 6lb (160lb) middleweight contest.

“It was always going to be a volatile build-up”, Hearn told BBC Sport.

“We’ve got to be careful moving forward, especially at Spurs on Thursday,” said the manager. “All bets are off. We must ensure that we distinguish them.

” These people, you don’t forget that. It’s not just about putting your head down on it. We need to keep them apart because we won’t get to April. “

Hearn was caught filming Ben Shalom, the promoter of Eubank, during the melee on Tuesday, but Shalom claimed he had no idea his rival planned to smack Benn with an egg.

After a press conference full of insults about family rifts and failed drug tests, security intervened to stop the situation from worsening further.

After their fathers, Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn, lost two fights in the 1990s, and a sons’ fight was postponed in October 2022, resulting in a two-year legal battle with anti-doping authorities, before his suspension was lifted in November, the boxers continue their family feud.

Benn denied doing it on purpose, but a report from the WBC sanctioned claims that two of Benn’s two failed drug tests were the result of an overconsumption of eggs.

The British Boxing Board of Control stated in a statement that they were “aware of the incident” and were handling the situation in accordance with its rules.

Steve Bunce, speaking on his 5 Live Boxing podcast, said there would definitely be” fine “for Eubank’s conduct.

Hearn said, “I wasn’t a fan of the premediated nature of the attack.”

” We’ve done it before. Whether it’s Haye-Bellew, very volatile fights in the past. We keep them away.

“We can’t afford to keep them in distance of each other. Because as I say, it is attack on sight mentality]now for Benn]”.

“I understand things can spill over”, Hearn added.

“But now we’ve just got to make sure they’re kept apart.