Chris Eubank Jr cracked an egg in Conor Benn’s face to cap off an explosive press conference, two months out from their grudge match in London.
Tuesday’s press conference in Manchester, which precedes Thursday’s in London, saw Eubank Jr press Benn on his failed drugs tests, which derailed their planned bout in 2022 and led Benn to be banned from boxing in Britain until recently.
Apparently egg contamination was the reason for his two failed drugs tests. So I contaminated him with an egg pic.twitter.com/6P7iY9GY7f
— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) February 25, 2025
Benn, who tested positive for the banned substance clomifene in 2022, was cleared by the WBC in 2023 after it said an “elevated consumption of eggs” was a “reasonable explanation” for his adverse findings. That was the source of Eubank Jr’s unique attack at the end of Tuesday’s press conference, which almost prompted a brawl – with both boxers held back by security.
Benn, 28, was only recently cleared fully, and he will box Eubank Jr, 35, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 26 April. The Britons will clash more than 30 years after their fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr, settled their bitter rivalry. Eubank Sr beat Benn in 1990, before they fought to a draw in 1993.
Even before the egg slap, the press conference itself was full of tension, with barbs flying from both men and their promoters.
Eubank Jr began by suggesting he and Benn should be sat closer together, which the latter outright refused, saying: “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, silly b****cks.”
When Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn tried to have his say, he was promptly shut down by an angry Eubank Jr, who said: “Eddie, you know I don’t like you, right? So if you know that, what on God’s sweet earth makes you think I’m gonna listen to anything you have to say?
“We’re gonna skip past whatever bulls*** you were going to say. You can sabotage the event, and I’ll just start talking to Benn directly.”
The always talkative Hearn couldn’t resist hitting back at Eubank Jr, stating: “I think I’m more popular than you,” before addressing his own fighter, asking, “Conor Benn, how we feeling about smashing this geezer to pieces on 26 April?”
Benn also referenced the strained relationship between the Eubanks, Jr and Sr, quipping: “His dad don’t even like him, you could not pay that man enough money to sit in [his son’s] corner.”
Eubank Jr appeared unruffled by this and claimed he was accepting the roles both men will play in the fight.
“For the first time in boxing history, in a mega-fight, there are two bad guys,” he explained. “One of us has accepted his fate. I gave up on my dreams of being a hero a long time ago. I’m a veteran at this stage, a super-villain.”
