A rescheduled blockbuster fight between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr will finally happen if the former’s license is reinstated by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC), promoter Ben Shalom believes.
Benn was suspended after failing two voluntary drug tests ahead of a planned fight with Eubank Jr in October 2022, with that fight canceled after he tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene.
on wednesday Ben is one step closer to a boxing comeback after the independent National Anti-Doping Council (NADP) lifted his suspension.
Sky Sports News The BBBoC has been approached for comment and the governing body has yet to confirm whether Benny will have his license reinstated, which is required to allow him to fight in Britain again.
UK Anti-Doping has also not confirmed whether it will initiate its right of appeal.
If Ben is eventually given the green light to fight again in Britain, Shalom is confident that the long-awaited fight with Eubank Jr will finally go ahead.
“If he gets his license, then I think the fight is on,” Shalom said Sky Sports.
“He needs a British license and it’s one of the biggest fights in British boxing, if not the biggest for me.
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Chris Eubank Jr challenged Conor Benn to face him next and the pair went head-to-head with soccer superstar Neymar standing between them.
“We know the history of that fight, we know why we’re here, we know why there’s so much animosity between them. Without a license, the fight probably won’t happen.”
Shalom added that the fight will take place not in Saudi Arabia, but on his own soil. “For me, it sells the stadium.
“This is one of the biggest fights you can do in the UK. So I think it will be important for fighters not to want to do it in the UK.
“I’m sure it’s a fight that will interest Riyadh’s season and His Excellency, just because there aren’t many fights that come close to that magnitude.”
“I just think it’s going to be too much for him,” Eubank said of Ben’s fight
The British fighters unexpectedly clashed in a row in Saudi Arabia last month when Ben entered the ring after Eubank Jr defeated Camille Seremeta.
Speaking days later, Eubank Jr. said of Benn: “The kid is full of confidence, but he’s never been there with an elite-level fighter, a technician, someone who knows how to hurt him.
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Chris Eubank Jnr says his clash against Conor Benn will be “wild” and admits the history behind their rivalry means there is a lot on the line.
“It’s all well and good that he says what he can do, but we won’t know how tough, how great Conor Benn is until he’s out there with someone like me who can really test. to him
“I think what I bring to the table is extremely elite, extremely high in terms of my experience, my skill, my strength, my speed.
“I just think it’s going to be too much for him. He’ll tell you otherwise, but I think it’s going to be a serious wake-up call for him.”
Eubank Jr.’s father, Chris, beat and then drew Ben’s father, Nigel, in two blockbuster fights in the 1990s.
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