5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Eubank Jr v Benn 2: Eddie Hearn

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

Is AJ going to fight Jake Paul? Is Conor Benn going to beat Chris Eubank Jr. They are just some of the subjects Buncey covers in his chat with Conor Benn's promoter Eddie Hearn. Plus, It's press conference day, so find out how Chris Eubank Sr stole the show.

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That's pockethose.com slash podcast for your two free gifts with purchase. Pockethose.com slash P-O-D-C-A-S-T. This is Five Live Boxing. It's Thursday of Fight Week, and that means that all the boxers come together and they sit on the table. It's always going to be entertaining. Well, this was special. We're also going to hear from Eddie Hearn and trust.

me, there's more than just Connor Ben and Chris Eubank Jr. news. I'm Steve Buntz and this is Five Live Boxing. So before we hear from Eddie Hearn and all that he's got to say, that's obviously going to include some Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul stuff, I've got to tell you what happened at the final press conference. Michael Buffer was there. That's not bad because Buffer's in good steadies. He's about 86 years of age. Also on the top table, Eddie Hearn and Ben Shalom, the promoter of Eubank Jr. Also on the top table, the two coaches. Brian Bowman McIntyre with Eubank and Tony Sims.

A man, a few words, but good words, with Connor Ben. And also with Connor Ben, his father Nigel, he's ever present. And now firmly back with Chris Eubank, Chris Eubank Senior. Well, I've got to tell you, it was colourful throughout. Eddie Hearn didn't talk. He had clipboards, including clipboards to hold up if he was insulted, with some very rude words on them. That was very funny.

I thought it was hilarious. The Eubanks not so keen. And then Chris Eubank was brilliant. Basically, ended every sentence with a cry of Rastafarai. He was absolutely comedy gold. Nigel Ben was starting to see because Chris Eubank accused him of lying. And then he insisted Eubank, Nigel, you have to apologize. You're a warrior like me.

You have to apologize. Your spirit must be pure. And then they got up for the head-to-head. First of all, it was just the two boxers. And then Nigel Ben joined his son Connor. And then after what seemed like an eternity, but it was more like just 30 seconds, Chris Eubank walked out, impeccably dressed, and he did a little shrug, his fighting way, and he did a little dance.

And then he was smiling, and then he was singing, but what he was really doing was winning over the crowd of about 500. Nobody noticed Eddie Hur. Nobody noticed Michael Buffer. Nobody noticed Connor Ben. Nobody noticed Nigel Ben. Nobody noticed Christopher Eubank. All we saw was the father, the fighter, the enigma, Chris Eubank, Senior. And it was a joy to see him right in the middle of a big boxing mix.

Well, that's what happened at the press conference. It was a lot of fun, the press conference, as you can tell. But I had sat down with Eddie Hearn, and before we got onto Connor, Ben, and Chris Eubank and all of the whole legacy thing, before we got on to them, I had to ask him about Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul. Yes, I did. Here I am with Eddie. There's not a lot to break just yet,

and people would definitely jump in the gun. There have been conversations between myself and Nikisa from MVP. Several months of them, on and off. Yeah, I mean, indirect. Originally, we spoke a few months ago about the possibility of this happening next year. And I said to him, look, we kind of have our plans mapped out for 2026, to be honest with you.

I mean, Turk-Elasheek has made it clear to us. He wants to make this ice and fury fight. That's the fight that we want. we are scheduled to potentially fight in February as well. So February in a top 15 guy or whoever it's going to be and then Tyson Fury back to end of the summer. That's 2026. Good year.

So we were never going to fight in 2025. Over the last couple of weeks, we've started to look at the possibility of kind of a runout for AJ. It's been quite well documented. And what that looks like is an opportunity for him to kind of wrap his hands, put the gown on, and go and fight without having to fight a really tight, tough fight under massive stadium pressure coming off a knockout defeat a year and a half ago.

And we quite like the idea of that. That was never going to be Jake Paul, by the way. And then because he's fighting. Giovonta Davis at that point, yeah. Giovonta Davis pulls out and we get the phone call from Nikisa. And he says, look, would you be? And I, you know, I'm like, I'm very skeptical in the sport of boxing. I'm very paranoid.

And I'm like, what are you doing here? You're just using AJ's name to say, well, We offered it to AJ. And he refused. Yeah, yeah. And it's like, and I said to him, look, this might work for us because if we're going to have a run out and that run out is a chance to end the run of Mr. Paul in boxing and you're going to pay us several tens of millions of dollars,

but absolutely we'll consider it. Now we're probably going to find out whether that's true or bluff. You know, I have lots of questions, you know, are you really going to do this? and I will always be as honest as I can. And I won't swear, I will just say absolutely. I mean, the reality is, is if we're going to have a run out against someone, run me out against Jake Paul.

Let me watch him go and do a job on this bloke and then move forward with our actual plans for 2026. So I don't think Jake Paul's crazy enough to do it personally. But we are, we're talking. And we'll see what happens over the next week. I mean, I don't, I hope he's not crazy enough to do it. Some of us were ringside for the Inganu fight, a guy that was five stone heavier, six inches taller,

and apparently had the greatest chin in all of sports where you hit each other on the chin or kick each other on the chin or kick each other on the chin. And we all saw what AJ did then. I can't see any other resolution to that fight than Jake Paul being spread on the floor, no matter how big they demand the gloves are. I completely agree with you.

I think it's a crazy move from Jake Paul. I think the one thing I've done recently He's giving him the respect to say, look, he is a cruiserweight fighter. I mean, I don't, I think people will probably revert to the YouTuber narrative in this fight because that's what they'll want to do. As opposed to a novice cruiserweight. Yeah, the reality is he's a top, I don't know, 70, 80 cruiserweight in the world. And that's what he is.

He's a cruiserweight stepping up to heavyweight to fight one of the best heavyweights in the world. I think it's a dangerous move for him. But that's not really my and AJ's responsibility. If we get offered a fight, We'll review the fight, we'll review the opportunity, we'll review how that fits within our schedule, and of course, we'll review the financials, and we might do it. That's the old Mickey Duff, Maxim,

the least amount of the wrist, the most amount of money. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it. That's our business. Yeah, but look, it's not part of our bigger plans. Our bigger plans are for Anthony Joshua to become World Heavyweight Champion again. Our bigger plans are for Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury.

That's the focus. If we can squeeze this one in on the way and get back in the groove for a lot of money, I can't tell you that we'd be turning it down. Now, I know you can't give me dates, and we will get to the real fight,

don't we? I know you can't give me dates, but it's December. Is it the second half of December? Oh, are there no dates yet? To be honest with you, I mean, a lot of the reporting last night was a bit adventurous.

So it's not on Christmas Day, is it? No, I mean, I don't know. A boxing day. I still beat it, I don't, yeah. But, uh, no deal. No deal. There won't be a deal this week. Like, we're not, you know,

December is the date they're talking about fighting. I've seen dates, I've seen venues, just chill out. You may not even see this thing, but if you do, you'll know about it. That's the truth. Just final question on AJ, and I wasn't going to ask this because it wasn't part of today's show. We saw him talking to Usik and maybe training there. We know he's had several trainers and he's been very fluid for a few years now.

Will he have a new trainer or will he just do, we sort of have some sort of co-op in the corner of, you know? I don't think he's made a decision on that yet. I mean, anyone that knows AJ knows that over the. last, well, his whole career since leaving Rob McCracken, he's gone into training camps to learn. Yeah, he's eager for knowledge. When he went to America, he went in with Eddie Renosa and Canelo,

and he had a spell in there. Then he went to Robert Garcia, he had him for a fight. Then he went to Dallas after with Derek James. I mean, so I think what he's done is he's had some time to himself and he's gone, I'm going to get back into camp. I want to go and see how Usik does things. I mean, that's the kind of person

AJ is. They seem to be very successful in there. I want to go and have a look. And that's it, you know, and whether that look is something that he likes or not, that's up to him. But it might just be a three or four weeks bell and go, that was cool. You know, back we go or wherever. So the main thing is he's really focused on this last run and he's really serious, you know. So the serious stuff, away from the circus stuff, is the real focus. Like if we end up taking this fight, all it is is a progression into February.

to the real stuff. Do you know, if we were going to go on an undercard in Stockton or Monaco or Garner or wherever it would have been, it's the same kind of thing. I mean, the opponent probably wouldn't have been too dissimilar to the levels of Jake. I mean, just because it would have been a runout you wouldn't even know about.

So that kind of ticks the boxes. But again, some work to do and the focus with particularly Turk Ehrlich-Ele-Shake is to lock in that plan for 2026. Which sounds like a legacy year. Okay, Ed. November 1990, Old Trafford, three years later, 67,000 people at Tottenham in April of this year.

We're back this Saturday for the second, the rematch and the full fight with this family dynasty feud that's been going on since last century. Did you think we'd get here? Did you think we'd have a match? Even after the fight in April? Yeah, I mean, I didn't even think we'd see the first one after everything that happened, you know.

And I think that what we saw, I mean, so often in boxing, mostly my fault, is the hype is, you know, huge. And sometimes the fight doesn't quite deliver. You know, the buildup delivers, the anticipation delivers. But, you know, and that was the reverse, right? Massive hype, but just a fight that exceeded all expectations. I mean, I was left, as many were that night, just flabbergasted by what we saw. So for me, I'm walking away that night thinking 100%, I mean, we had a contract.

you're right, seller had to do the rematch anyway. And I knew it was going to happen. You know, I know that, you know, Chris Eubank, Jr.

is motivated by only money at this stage in his career, which is I don't have an issue with. Absolutely. And there's a lot of money in the rematch. So, yeah, I knew, and he won.

Yeah. So, you know, I expected him to, to take this fight. It just feels a bit different this time from Connor. You know, I kind of feel like,

I mean, sort of boy to man, a little bit. bit in the respect of so much happened in his life leading up to that first fight. He'd been inactive for over a year and a half, all the stuff with the appeals, the court cases, everything. Eubank got under his skin and really wound him up. And he wanted to go in there and take all these frustrations out on Chris Eubank Jr., which he really attempted to do. And he done a very good job. First second. But for people that kind of know the quality of Conner Ben and know their boxing,

by his own admissions and particularly by the admissions of Tony Sims, he was pretty poor on the night. I mean, he was winging him in from his boots and don't get me wrong, it was brilliant, like it was great to watch. But in terms of fighting to his capabilities and potential, he really didn't do it.

This time around, it doesn't seem that emotional. He seems really calm, really excited to put a performance together. And this time last fight, I was having conversations with him. He's quite an honest kid. You know, he would say to me, I'm, I'm blind me, I'm nervous, gee, I can't, 67,000 people.

I've never been involved. Yeah, even, even, like, even earlier in the week. And there were a few little pep talks just to say, listen, mate, you'll be, but now you've experienced, now you've gone through it, he's really confident that he can put that performance together. Eubank's very stubborn. He's a very, very tough man. He's not going to just turn up and just, you know, get himself beat. He's going to have to go to the same well, the same trenches that he went to last time. I just feel like at 36 or 37 or whatever he is,

to do that again after that first fight, it takes a lot more out of you than it does the fresher, younger man. But I also think Ubank's probably trained a bit harder for this rematch. He's certainly trained differently. Yeah, I think he looks, you know, and people talk about the weight, which I guess we'll come on to. Maybe not. Well, hopefully not, because it's just the narrative's ridiculous.

I mean, you've got, you know, Ubank is, I think he's seventh fight at middleweight. Yeah, absolutely. And he's just doing what he always does. He's fighting at championship weight. Connor Ben's coming up to. weight classes. But I tell you that weight, when I saw him in the gym a few weeks ago, he just looked thicker, Conner Ben, like he's actually building into the middleweight limit. Slightly heavy. It was what Toby Sim said to me. Yeah, I think so. And I just feel like

that they will always stand next to each other and there will be a clear size advantage. I mean, again, that's people choose to ignore that or not. But I just feel like this time Conor Ben will put a performance together and I believe, I think this could be Eubank's last fight. I think the people around him after the last fight kind of get to a stage where he's made a lot of money he made a lot of money in the last fight he's going to make a lot of money on Saturday

we don't want to see you do this anymore but he's a tough stubborn man and let me ask you just we will actually finish and do a little bit on the weight Eubank Senior's been particularly vocal about the weight he was particularly vocal when he was estranged

before the first fight he's been vocal since he and Chris have become friends again father and son devoted to each other it would seem but he's continuing on with the weight and is rather mystifying that people are picking up and running with what he's saying when the reality is as you just

said there this is what you bank has weighed yeah we've not you've not asked him to get down to 151 or 152 or something obscene and dangerous his comments I mean I used to just think that he was often deluded they're just lies I mean if you actually listen to what he's

I mean when he says they are making him get down. I mean, firstly, get down. Get down to what? His championship limit. He said, they need to follow the rules. What rules? Connor Ben's coming up from well to wait

to fight a guy that's two divisions bigger than him. Who are you concerned for here? Because you should be a lot more concerned for Connor Ben. But you're talking about, you know, they are making him, and particular accusations to me,

right? I didn't make this fight. Turkey-Ella Sheik made this fight. He approached me, asked us, would you be happy to fight Chris Eubank Jr. The weight is 160 pounds and this is the money. The answer was absolutely. He did the same to Chris Eubank.

So firstly, and by the way, Chris Eubank, Jr., like he will tell us, is his own man. What do we do? Force him to take the fight. I mean, sorry we forced you to take a fight at your championship limit weight that you fight at all the time for the two biggest paydays of your career by far to fight a guy two divisions lighter than you. you. Chris Eubanks Senior flouted up the divisions and hoard himself out

for money to go up to cruise a weight. From nowhere. Right? And he was a middleweight. Great fight. It's not going to super middleweight and then going up two divisions to cruise a weight to fight guys so much bigger than him just for us to squeeze out a couple of extra paydays. I've never heard so much rubbish in my life.

And you know, but the things that I like to hear from Eubank Senior are his statements that say, my son will find out the hard way on Saturday. They're already talking up like, this is going to be a real tough night for Eubank Jr. And it will be, by the way. But let's just move away from the narrative

of Chris Eubank fighting at his... They are making my son come down in weight. No, we're not. He's fighting at his weight. And by the way, no one's making him come down. He was gagging for the fight. gag him for the fight. So please stop playing the victim.

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This week on Good Bad Billionaire, how Toto Wolf made his billions. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Connor Ben tells me and Chris Eubang Jr. also tell me that this is it. This is it for them. Of course, if Conner were to win comfortably, a trilogy is an option. Connor's also talking about going to 147.

Back to Welterweight where he thinks he can exist and we have no idea what Ubank Jr. would do. Could we have a... Is there any kind of contractual... No. Is there anything at all that suggests a third fight? No, nothing in the contract. I mean, look, the reality is,

is if we saw another fight like the first fight and Connor wins, I mean, it's very difficult not to do a third. But Conner Ben has true aspirations to fight at his natural way and to win a world championship like his father. And when you look at the champions, whether it's Marios Barrios, whether it's Lewis Crocker,

he's got every chance to become world champion at World TWAWay. Absolutely. The difficulty will be, now you've been eating yourself up to 160, now you've got to come back to 147. That will take a little bit of time. I think he is actually very doable for Conner Ben.

He's not, you know, he was a big World to Weight. He's certainly not a big 154, and he's definitely not a big 160. So, but I think time will take. tell but the Connor Ben Conor Ben took this fight because it was a massive spectacle it was a chance to create

some incredible legacy for the family but it was also two fights that will secure him financially and his children for the rest of their life and that should always be the first tick of any box in this sport so he's done that now now we go back to the legacy and the achievement and the dreams

to have that picture of that same belt that your father wore around his waist. All the good stuff. So Ed, as we wind down and get closer to the fight, when they're in the ring on Saturday, glorious week it would have been, glorious buildup, great undercard, great fights, bodies all over the place. It's going to be a lot of fun the undercard.

Ding, ding, first round. Is it round 13 or is it a completely new chapter? What's your gut feeling now? Connor Bend, it says it well. He said, I'm an emotional fighter. I mean, not just an emotional fighter, an emotional man, right? and he's his father's son. So let's go back to Nigel Ben.

You know, did we ever think that Nigel Ben would box around the ring off the back foot? I mean, it's just impossible. But you can be much smarter. You know, you can just work. There's a lot of ground in between. And I think you'll see the same kind of violence,

but you'll just see it in a smarter way, you know, a more composed way. I don't want Connor Ben to lose his emotion as a fighter. That's what makes him what he is. That's what made Nigel Ben what he is. The volatility, but just be smart with it. You know, you don't have to go. I mean, and he's so much better pound for pound

than Chris Eubank as a boxer, right? But if you just stand there with the bigger man and just wing him in, as Nigel Ben said, from his boots and from all over the world. Just like Nigel did, by the way. You're going to get beaten by the bigger man. So we've got to be a little bit smart in there, but we've also got to be fresh, sharp and violent.

Yeah. Do you think there's some similarities between the second fight between the fathers in the sense that it was still a great fight? It just wasn't as good as the one in Birmingham. I mean, it was a brutal fight that for me, the rematch. People were trying to tell me this week, yeah, but look at the rematch, it didn't live up to it. I said, trust me, it lived up to it. I think that was more probably Chris Eubank, Senior.

And don't forget, that first fight he had with Nigel Ben. I mean, me and Senior have our differences. one thing, he was an unbelievably tough man. I mean, when he talks about weight cuts, he would drop six, seven, eight pounds on the day of the fight. They were day of the fight, weighings back there.

You talk about dangerous. I mean, that was outrageous what he used to do. And he chose to do it that way. I mean, like, you know, but ultimately, the fight, that first fight,

Ben Eubank won, was so brutal. And Eubank Senior had a great chin. And I think that fight, probably changed his perception a little bit about how tough this sport is and how dangerous this sport is. He lost a lot of blood that night.

Remember he had a big cut inside his mouth? I mean, you know... Blood everywhere. Yeah, and he was unbelievably tough. And I think from there, he started to realize how tough this sport was and it's how many times you choose to go back to those places. So I think when the rematch came,

he was just a little bit wiser about how tough and dangerous this sport is. And I don't think he... wanted to fight. I mean, my dad always talks about selecting an opponent with,

for UBank, I think my dad just said, no South Paws and no one with a pulse. Yeah, exactly. And that was, you know, they went on a world tour

against the worst opposition you've ever seen. But Ubank was a show, right? And people just turned up to watch the fight. You talk about the fights. I mean,

all due respect to them, you know. All true. You know, Sam's story, you know, Dan Shoma. Whoa.

Easy on Dan Shoma. Who, by the way, who, by the fight by about five rounds and Eubank got a draw. But this is what I take the Mickey out of my dad because don't forget, I'm team Ben. My dad's team Eubank. Yeah, of course.

Not in the fight on Saturday, but he would always be his guy, you know. And I say, I'll go back. But my dad's quite honest about it. You know, Eubank never wanted to fight anybody. That's why he never fought Michael Nunn. That's why he never fought Roy Jones. That's not I never fought James Tony. Yeah, of he just went, no thank you.

Mike McCullum. Yeah, Mike McCullum. He said, no thank you. I'll have Dan Schomer in South Africa. Go on Essex it, in Portugal, please. Yeah. So, but listen, he was, they made a lot of money. Yeah.

And, you know, I just feel like he quickly realized. And Eubank Jr., who is a very tough man, will also remember how he felt in that first fight. Yeah. And how he felt after and the time it took him to recover. Yeah. It's a real eye opener to the real truth of the brutality of the sport. Yeah. And how many times do you want to go back to those places?

I promise you, Connor Ben. is willing to not just go back to those places, but to a whole lot deeper to where he went before. And I, you know, that's why I think this will be Junior's last fight on Saturday. And I also wouldn't be surprised if he was pulled out of the fight late on in this fight. Not by him, because I don't think he'll quit. But I think people around him might just say, we don't want to go back there. That is the preview of the fight I needed.

So, Ed, in the next five or six weeks, you're in Ria, you're in Ghana, You're in Monte Carlo. We might be in Miami. When are you going to put your head down on a pillow and have a little relax? January 5th or 6 or 7th or something. Bunchy, boring. I mean, look, we've got one life here. Let's look back.

What we want to do is when we get to what we'll hopefully be, I'll say 80, but it'd be nice if it was 90, wouldn't it? We sit in a chair and we just look back and we go, wow, what was that all about? I mean, rather than, I had a nice rest. No, did I, did I? I mean, my old man is 77. You know, there is a chance he could make 80, which is just phenomenal. Like, you know, and life passes very quickly.

I think he'd be a bit disappointed at that. I think he'd like if he was in, no, he'd end up to see it. It'd a bit as good chance I'll make 95. I know what? You know what? You might make 80. He went, hang on, I'm 77. I feel great.

80s tomorrow, thanks very much. It's been an absolute delight and a pleasure talking to you. Cheers. So that was Eddie Herner in absolutely fine form. And we will keep you up to date with any changes on the Anthony Joshua, Jake, Paul front. So we're getting closer and closer. On tomorrow's pod, which will be the preview pod from the way and I'll be joined by former world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, Richie Woodall, to break it down. Plus, we'll hear from the fighters, plus we're here from both of their

coaches. And then on Saturday night, 60 odd thousand people, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, from 10pm on 5 Live, we will have the fight. I'll be there. Ritchie will be there. Big Roder McIntosh will be doing the commentary. We'll also have Stacey Copeland. It will be a special night. The first fight, it's a potential fight of the year. The second one, it'll probably be the same. I'm Steve Bunce, and this is Five Live Boxing. Five Live Sports. The Rugby Union Autumn International. Unbelievable. Rugby Union's elite clash in a bid to close out the year in style.

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