Gold Coast, Australia – Eddie Hearn expects Conor Benn will fight Mario Barrios if a deal for Benn-Chris Eubank Jr. is not agreed upon next week.
The promoter is still in discussions with Boxxer, promoter Eubank Jnr and Barrios’ promoter, Premier Boxing Champions, regarding a potential rematch with Benn.
Benn was free to resume work in the UK when the National Anti-Doping Commission cleared him of two failed drug tests in 2022 that forced it to be cancelled. His date with Eubanks Junior in the UK
He has twice tested positive for the banned substance clomifen, and although he has always maintained his innocence. But he was inactive for 15 months until returning to defeat Rodolfo. Orozco in September 2023 in America
Victory over Peter Dobson followed in February 2024 and again in the United States. But it took until the latest developments for the latest major battle to become possible again. And Hearn has warned his opponents that time is running out.
“If we are going to fight Eubank we will have a match by the end of this week,” he told BoxingScene. “You’ve won The Ring Magazine in London, everyone in London.
“We are only talking about fights taking place in the UK. I found it very difficult to fight. When we first argued, they didn’t really hate each other. They are not friends. They both have famous fathers. It makes sense. Now, no one wants it to be an inch. And sometimes it’s very boring.
“I’ve been there before (Karl) Frampton-(Scott) Quick, (Amir) Khan-(Kell) Brook, AJ (Anthony Joshua). W)-(Tyson) Fury It’s very difficult to get everyone to agree. I talked with Ben. Shalom every day for the past seven days, and Turki Alalchik loves the fight too. Maybe he could get everyone together to make it happen. But I think if we go It will be for the next seven days.
“(I had) talked to PBC and said, ‘Look, if we don’t fight Eubank, we want to fight Barrios.’ Conor wanted to fight Barrios. I think that’s really his preference, but money – the difference between the two… For one, it gives you a chance to win the world championship. One that basically gives you a good life – forever. But I once told Conor, ‘If you lose, you can come back to 147, win, and go fight Barrios.’ But maybe we It might allow the Barrios to fight in the UK. And if we can I think he will win.”
Chairman of Matchroom, which is based on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Australia for Jai Opetaia-David Nyika was asked which of the two events he thought was more likely. And he replied: “I would say Barrios just because. It’s hard to get (Eubank Jnr) to agree on anything. But normally I say Eubank because of the money, but it doesn’t seem like…
“Let’s not forget that 160 isn’t good for Conor Benn and it used to be 157. Everyone complained that we were dropping Eubank by 3 pounds, but nobody complained that we were lifting Conor by 10 pounds. Now he’s jumped 13 pounds. This puts you at a huge physical disadvantage in this fight. But it’s still a 50-50 fight, we have to get it right. But it was a monster fight.”
A date between Benn, 28, and Barrios, the 29-year-old WBC welterweight champion, is likely to be a title match for Barrios.
Eubank Jnr, 35, defeated Kamil Szeremeta in October. Before confronting Benn at the time, he also criticized Matchroom and their chief executives, Frank Smith and Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotion; The tension that exists between Matchroom and Boxxer represents an additional obstacle to the match’s eventual regret.
“I don’t think there was a lot going on with Frank (Smith),” Hearn said. “Eubank was pressured to do that – his whole team was very premeditated. I think Frank Warren is still dealing with that. So I will just leave it at that.”
