1 week ago
54
Conor Benn outfoxed and outboxed Chris Eubank Jr to enact revenge for his defeat earlier this year.
The Destroyer's relative youth showed against a 36-year-old seven years his senior as he put in an agile and deft performance to dominate the fight at the Tottenham Hostpur Stadium.
In the final round, he knocked his opponent to the canvas twice and celebrated wildly when the final bell went, with the winner in no doubt despite the fact it had technically gone the distance. By unanimous decision, Benn won with scores of 119-107, 116-110, and 118-108.
Eubank Jr looked sluggish, slow to dodge shots and wayward with his counter-punches, to lose for the fourth time in his career.
Both came flying out of the blocks in the first round and Eubank landed a hard right to the head but Benn was the happier man when the first bell rang.
In an eventful second round, Eubank bowled over his opponent and referee Kevin Parker had stern words with both men to bring the fight under control.
But this was only going one way and by the third round it was evident that Benn was lighter on his feet and making more connections.
But Benn was dominant in the early stages and in the fourth round re-asserted himself more, with Eubank Jr seemingly holding off in a bid to outlast his opponent.
And Benn kept his foot on the gas in the fifth, still hammering away with the body shots and looking more energetic than his adversary.
At the halfway stage, it looked like Benn was running away with it, with the bigger man's jab being non-existent.
Any hopes of a comeback in the second half looked thin as Benn continued relentlessly in the seventh, with Eubank Jr looked tired on his feet and sluggishly missing shots. A right hand square to the face from Benn got the crowd bouncing and riled his rival.
A flurry of punches from Benn in the early stages of the eighth had Eubank Jr rattled. Later in the round, Eubank Jr looked up at the big screen to check how long was left as the fatigue looked heavy on him.
In the ninth round, there was no sign of a Eubank Jr comeback and it looked almost easy for Benn, whose work looked almost effortless and as weaved in and out.
Even with little time left, Eubank Jr showed little indication of trying to turn things around as Benn set the tone in the 10th, keeping his opponent on the backfoot for long stretches of the round.
Benn made a breakthrough in the 11th round and shook Eubank Jr for a few seconds with a heavy shot, but the 36-year-old stumbled into the final round.
In the final round, he knocked Eubank Jr to the canvas twice but somehow his rival made it to the bell.
