Eubank Ir and Benn seek to settle brutal family feud

Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn are writing a story built on pressure versus pain.

- WILL CASTLE

After the fireworks of February, Thursday's final press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a much more “parliamentary” affair. There were no eggs, no fisticuffs, nothing of the like. Instead, it felt like both bruisers, locked in an inherited rivalry, are fully committed to settling this in the ring and only the ring.

Much has been made of the weight chosen for the bout. Benn, 28, is moving up two divisions from welterweight, something that has more than drawn the ire of Chris Sr, who has branded the fight a “disgrace” for fear his son could end up doing serious and permanent damage to his much smaller opponent. But facing the prospect of a unique rehydration clause that will lead Eubank Jr, 35, into “uncharted waters”, it’s the natural middleweight who is feeling the agony.

“The weight is painful, I’m in pain right now,” Eubank Jr admitted, facing the prospect of having to weigh in on fight day for the first time in his 14-year professional career. “I’ll be in even more pain tonight and tomorrow morning.” Benn who had just branded Eubank Jr “fat boy” and recommended he focus on getting the weight off, interjected: “And the worst pain you’ve ever been in, Saturday night.”

Eubank Jr was unfazed by this jibe from his fierce rival because pain is something he’s become far too accustomed to. He continued: “The question I ask myself is, ‘What is pain?’