Crucial time for negotiations between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, says promoter Ben Shalom | Boxing news
Negotiations between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn have reached a crucial stage, with promoter Ben Shalom hoping their hit British fight can be signed and sealed this week.
Looks like Eubank Jr. and Benn finally settling their rivalry in the ring were given new hope in November when the National Anti-Doping Commission lifted Benn’s provisional suspension, saying it was “not very comfortable” that UKAD had proven the 28-year-old had committed a doping offence.
The ruling saw negotiations between the Eubank Jr and Benn camps resume, but the fight has yet to be announced before the proposed early 2025 date.
Speaking with Sky SportsBoxxer’s promoter Shalom, who represents Eubank Jr., was optimistic the fight could still go ahead, attributing the delay in the signing to the sheer size of the contest.
“If a deal is going to be done, it will be done this week,” Shalom said. “We want to fight; they want to lead the fight, but now is the crucial time.
“It can be difficult with a fight of this magnitude, especially when there’s so much bad blood. It’s not like the first time, there’s a real rivalry now.
“We had a similar situation with Amir Khan and Kell Brook. It didn’t look like that fight was ever going to happen, but we made it happen and hopefully we can do the same for Eubank Jr against Benn.
“It’s one of the biggest fights in British boxing, along with Fury v Joshua. I believe it sells out every stadium in the country.”
Shalom revealed to Sky Sports in December that his fighter Eubank Jr had agreed to a 55-45 per cent split for the proposed fight against Benn.
“We did an amazing job getting Chris to accept a 55 percent royalty. We did wonders,” Shalom said.
“This is nowhere near a 50-50 fight, so the fact that Chris is able to compromise on that is very generous of him. I’ve done my job and now it’s time for them to be reasonable.
“The fact that they’ve already gotten us there shows how well we’ve done. If the fight doesn’t happen now, then we know what does.”
Benn: All shackles are off
Benn has set a potential fight date for next month, although it remains to be seen whether a deal can be agreed in time.
“February, God willing,” Benn said. “We are aiming for February.
“I believed I was going to get approved. I didn’t want to be unprepared. I didn’t want to be, ‘oh, I need six months to prepare.’ I didn’t want to lose a bunch of weight. I wanted to be ready.
“I feel rejuvenated, full of life, excited, vicious, motivated. Now that I’m free, the shackles are off.”
