Chris Eubank Jr outlasts Conor Benn in thrilling grudge match war
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn went to war at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a Fight of the Year favorite.
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn walked into a big atmosphere at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and over 12 rounds of violent, gritty action, they earned the admiration of fans there and all over the world.
Eubank out-pointed Benn on unanimous scores of 116-112 in what was a remarkable night for both second generation fighters, as the smaller Benn (23-1, 14 KO) showed off an incredible chin and a lot of determination, fighting his heart out for 12 rounds against the natural advantages held by Eubank (35-3, 25 KO), who also had to dig deep over the fight to pull out the victory.
Benn was clearly significantly smaller than Eubank, and he took some hard, clean shots from the natural middleweight, but Benn never looked all that bothered until the 12th and final round, when Eubank rained down blows that would have stopped most opponents in that same situation.
This was a genuinely great fight, one that built that case round-by-round, with a hot start that just led to bigger drama when both fighters were tired in the later rounds, Benn throwing bombs and trying to find the difference-making shot, absorbing punishment, and Eubank holding court just enough to pull out the victory.
As much as diehard boxing fans may have poo-pooed the bout going in, there’s no question that Eubank Jr and Benn earned the world’s respect with this fight, and a rematch — if possible — would certainly be welcome, which is probably not what a lot of people expected going in. But when you get a Fight of the Year-level brawl, that’s how it goes.
Anthony Yarde closed his trilogy with Lyndon Arthur with a win by unanimous decision, with judges scoring the fight 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112. It was a bit of a different look than we’ve seen from Yarde (27-3, 24 KO) in the past, but the second half of the fight really belonged to him. Arthur (24-3, 16 KO) had a decent opening half, I thought, maybe was even after six rounds, but Yarde took over and Arthur just wasn’t doing anything of real note in the latter stages of the bout. It wasn’t the most thrilling win for Yarde, but it’s a solid one and keeps him in the mix for a possible third crack at a world title.
Aaron McKenna scored a career-best win with a dominant showing against veteran Liam Smith in their middleweight showdown. Being totally fair and honest here, Smith (33-5-1, 20 KO) is 36 years old, hadn’t fought since 2023, and is past his best days. But what McKenna (20-0, 10 KO) showed today would have been tough for even the best Liam Smith we’ve seen, and Liam Smith has been a very good fighter over his career. This was just a really strong, complete showing for McKenna. The fight probably could have been stopped in the later rounds, but Smith is still tough as old shoe leather and did his best to not have that happen. If there’s any real worry about McKenna’s upside, he’s not a big puncher, but middleweight is and has been fairly vulnerable. He slides in as the latest new hope at 160.
Viddal Riley secured the British cruiserweight championship, taking the Lonsdale belt from Cheavon Clarke on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111, and the former two were closer than anyone should have had the fight, at least in my estimation. Riley (13-0, 7 KO) didn’t go in there and do anything crazy or unique, he was just better than Clarke (10-2, 7 KO), who dropped his second straight fight and at 34, he has to be wondering what the goal of his career is anymore, because he’s lost fights well below world level. But it was a very impressive performance from Riley, who showed real boxing savvy and skill against the former Olympian.
Chris Billam-Smith bounced back from his loss to Zurdo Ramirez with a hard-fought, hard-earned unanimous decision win over Brandon Glanton, who again came up just a little shy at a higher level. Glanton (20-3, 17 KO) gave this a good go, but Billam-Smith (21-2, 13 KO) was able to land cleaner and give the better effort down the stretch. CompuBox saw Billam-Smith landing 195 of 667 (29%) of his total punches, and 171 of 427 (40%) power shots. Glanton landed 172 of 560 (31%) of his punches, including 124 of 381 (33%) of his power punches. Billam-Smith landed 68 body shots to Glanton’s 47.