5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Eubank v Benn: Fight Review

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

Richie Woodhall joins Buncey to reflect on an extraordinary night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where Chris Eubank Jr beat Conor Benn. We hear from both fighters.

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They can sell all sorts of fights. But seldom. the much-hyped fights turn out to be even better than the hype. And that's what happened in front of 67,000 people at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Connor Ben against Chris Eubank Jr. was literally a fight for the ages. Sure it was the Suns, it was also unforgettable. I'm Steve Bunce, and this is Five Live Boxing. We're about to come inside because it did get cold.

It started off as a glorious spring, warm day, and then it got cold. So I'm inside with Ritchie Woodall. And as we walked in here, we're talking, we talked to half a dozen different people to pair of us. And people were saying, that was incredible. That was amazing. That was ridiculous. I'm not quite sure, Rich, we can work out what we've just witnessed.

Connor Ben and Chris Eubang Jr., fighting like they did with all of that pride for 12 rounds. When they were both hurt, they were both stunned. They both had to go to places. They'd never been before, and they probably never imagined they would go before. You know, you're here now. You seem a little bit. We were both shocked by it.

Absolutely shocked by what we witnessed. It was that good, it stunned us. Yes, it was that good. I didn't expect the intensity of the contest like that. I didn't think, I thought we might see kind of Ben have a go early on in the fight because I thought being the lighter, man.

I thought he might... Which he did. First two or three rounds? Yeah, which he did. Unbelievable speed. And I actually thought at one point he was showing a lack of experience because he probably went off a little bit too quick

and he seemed to be putting everything into every shot really early on in the fight. I got set for the first time in the pod, like his father. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, there was some... You know what? You could just see his father in him

with some of his movements and the way he launched his right hands. More so than any point in his career so far. Yes, definitely. So there was a lot of intent in his shots. And I thought he's going off a little bit too quick here. And he could burn himself out because he's not experienced over 12 rounds. So I thought that it was a big gamble. He obviously thought he had a lot of confidence in his power,

that he would catch Eubank Jr. But, you know, he went off too quick for me. And he kept making mistakes. He was launching from too far out. He wasn't measuring with his jab. I spoke about it in commentary. launching from too far out. When you do that, Steve, you fall short.

And then I thought, this is going to be a matter of time before he walks onto a good shot. I thought you bank or suss him out here. He'll just adjust his feet and bring him onto a big punch. But there was still that intensity, even in the opening rounds, I mean, the first couple of shots, the big shots, the Ben launched, which missed. I mean, you've kind of got a collective, ooh, an R from the 67,000 people that were here.

So even though, even though he was missing with shots, there was all sort of part of the fabric of the fire. Yeah. It was all part of it. And there was that intensity. I mean, they exchanged stuff, I think, at the end of at least five or six of the 12 round. Certainly in the first and second round, but I think the referee Victor Lockeland had to separate them at the end of the first round.

The intensity, it was pulsated. You could sense the entire atmosphere. Well, yeah, because on the flip side, you see, then you could argue, well, at some point he may catch Eubank with one of these punches that he's launching from the back of the arena or whatever. Do you what I mean? So it was one of those. Now, what I was impressed with more than anything, I think, in the early stages, was the fast head movements. I absolutely love that.

All he needed to do was hook, get close enough then to make Eubank throw a shot, roll, Bob underneath, and then come out of the other side with a hook. So we needed to hook off the movement, which eventually started to do that because I thought he's counter-punching on the front foot was very, very good because he's very, very sharp and fast reactions. and he started to bring this right hand over into play. Then at one point she obviously wobbled him with a fantastic left-duck and you thought, wow. I didn't think that overall I didn't think that Ben would keep it going. I thought he went off far too quick. But he got a second win from somewhere, Steve.

That's what made it a classic because he did keep it going. This pod's working out a bit like the fight. It's taken on a life of its own. I mean, a fight like that, it's difficult to break. down in one, two, three and four. So he jumped a few rounds, but there was a point. I think it was in six or seven. When I said to you, Rich, and I said, it's a nod word to use, Rich, but does Ben now

look vulnerable? And you said, I think we could see a stoppage in a couple of rounds. And it was almost like Tony Sims in Connor Ben's corner heard it, and Connor Ben heard it, and Nigel Ben heard it, because a round later, Connor comes out and has the best round he's had for about four rounds. So you and I, I think, after ten rounds, had it really, really, really. Close. If not 10, 10,

certainly, really tired. At that point, what you're on about there, Steve, he seemed to slow down and you back then seemed to get the measure of him

and sort of was controlling him with his jab and his longer range punches. And he slowed it down. And I thought, I didn't think there was any way back for Conner Ben. This was after about six or seven rounds.

I thought that Conor Ben was slowing down. I didn't think he was going to come back. Because I thought then, what I thought then was. I thought Ubank would just dismantle him, just boxing in range. And that's what Ubank was doing. I don't think Ubank was trying to finish it.

Ubank was trying to break him to it. He was in such a position that Conor Ben was either pulled out by the corner, something that was running through my mind, or the referee, Victor Loughlin would have no choice but to intervene. And that was a sense of sense. So I think it was a good call from the corner. They did something in that corner. Tony Sims, he managed to get it,

to put that second wind into him, because he came out that round and all of a sudden we knew that he had to change things and he did. Yeah, well, I think we went over after I think about eight rounds to the corner.

We heard Tony because it wasn't a great connection and what Tony said was you're hurting him, now let your hands go when you're hurting. He hurting him in one shot, let the two and three go. And even when he did come back, I got the impression

that Eubank himself was quite prepared for that little bit of second win. But he didn't expect the second win to really last towards the end of the fight. even if he did lose the end of the rounds. Let me just do some housekeeping, as we like to call it.

All three judges scored at 116, 112, which really translates to, they believe that Chris Eubank won eight rounds and that Connor Ben won four rounds. I would have had it a little bit closer. I had it 7-5. Same here. I had it 7-5,

and I think Eubank overall did enough to win, certainly with a cleaner boxing. But had it been a draw, it wouldn't have been as contra. It wouldn't have been a screamer. No, it wouldn't have been, it wouldn't have been a screamer. Now, before we're here, we're going to hear from a couple of the boxes. In fact, we're going to hear from all of the players involved in the business.

At the end of the fight, Eubank could barely speak. He had a massive gash across his right eye, which was at least an inch and a half long. It had been miraculously closed. Connor Ben was in his dad's arms, not necessarily crying. I think just exhausted. Yeah.

But Eubank, the emotion had taken over. The fight had been so draining and the adrenaline was gone. That was one of the most awkward interviews I've heard. He could barely speak, Richard. Barely speak. I think, Steve, the person who was more surprised than anyone tonight was probably Chris Eubank Jr. In the performance of his opponent.

And he says as much. Well, he said, didn't he? He says, I didn't think he had that in him. And I don't think many of us did he either. there when we knew I knew Connor Ben was a decent puncher, fight at a good pace, but he's a well-to-weight. Can you know, I didn't even imagine that he would fight at that pace against a middle-weight.

He's not even a middle-weight himself. No way, Steve, I don't think many people could... No, no, I said to you and I went, you and I were freezing out there, so we had to get one of the security guards to take us to have a pee. We went through 17 doors to get to a pee. I've visited people in prison in strange ways and only gone through nine doors.

I had 17 doors to fill a urinal here a day. Trust me, it is easier to get in and out of strange ways than it is to get in and out of toilets at the Tollahospur. A Tolland-Hopper stadium is the absolute true. I'm being honest. Let's hear now from Chris Eubank Jr. Who was in the ring after the fight with his father. Chris, congratulations.

Two words, and those two words are Eubank supremacy. Tell the world what this means to you right now. It's It's Yes First of all You thank the one above I knew I was capable of that

I just needed someone to bring me out Bring that out of me And I'm not going to lie I didn't expect that he'd be the guy to do that But the fact that Our fathers Did what they did For those years ago

It brings out different soul, a different spirit into you. And that's what we both showed here tonight. What do you believe won you to fight tonight, Chris, through those 12 rounds? I pushed through. There's a lot of things that have been going on in my life, but I'm not going to go out. I'm not going to get into you right now, but I'm happy to have this man back with me.

And we've upheld the family name, like we said, we were going to do. and onwards and upwards. We weren't sure if we'd seen your father here tonight. How much of a lift did it give you on a night like this? A lot, a lot. It was one of those things that was special. It's special. He needed to be here.

One of this is because of what he did. And he just did it again, baby. Although you said the procedure would be parliamentary, you also said it was impossible for it to go 12 rounds. Was there anything that surprised you in there tonight coming back from Conabre? Coming back from Conner Ben. Everything surprised me. I didn't know he had what he had in him.

I really didn't. I thought I would break him early. I underestimated him. I didn't train for a fight like that. I didn't know he had that in him. He's never shown that. But then again, he's never had to show it. He had to show it tonight.

So did I. Hang tight, Chris, because we are going to come back to you, of course. I do want to grab a word with your father. Chris, how special was that, as I said to Chris? We weren't sure if we would see you tonight, but my obvious question is how proud are you of your son watching that from ringside? Listen, I mean, he couldn't move around the ring

and so he had to stand toe to toe. I mean, that is legendary behavior in the ring. Legendary, and this, Conner Ben, as I said, Conner Ben is an extraordinary fighter. You know, he's gone pear-shaped somewhere, but an extraordinary fighter. And you saw that here tonight. he wanted to tear and I thought he would blow out in maybe four or five rounds

he's going he's going strong he's going strong right the way through the fight I am so proud of him that is uh that's my son that's right that's why I'm here I was always going to be here that's right for us to far away fantastic thank you very much now let's also hear rich from Conner Ben in a corridor and his trainer Tony Sims was there and it was obviously very emotional, but I thought I had to try and get a few words out of him. It was emotional. It was a lot.

You know, I obviously had 40 for three years. You know, so it was emotional for me coming back to that sort of turnout. But it hurts, you know, because I don't work as hard as I do to lose. I just want to do better, man. But do you realise what you put yourself through? Do you realize what you did tonight? Do you realize how you proved anybody wrong? You were absolutely brilliant tonight.

You just lost. You do realize that, don't you? It's easy for me to say, I know. But that's the truth. You were incredible tonight. How do you tell someone who sacrificed time with his family? You know, my little door's got two front teeth now and she crawls. You know?

It's just hard, man. Yeah, because sacrifices, I'm not getting back. Yeah. I want to win. Time might work. Time might work. Time might work. We've let Connor go with Tony.

Tony is going to be hard for him to get over it for a while, but he was incredible. I mean, I know you know what he's capable of. I didn't know either of them were capable of what we saw tonight in the ring, especially Connor. Yeah, like, you know, like he said, he's put a lot of time and effort into the camp. we was all confident, truly confident

he was going to win the fight and it's obviously a disappointment but like you say it was an incredible fight for the fans obviously we was always it was always going to be a big leap going up to two weight divisions I mean he only weighed

two pound over super world weight so you know he's a natural one four or seven fighter but I think he showed all the fans and the world, he's got loads of bottle, he's got incredible, he's got incredible punch resistance. I felt like he hurt Eubank a few times in the fight,

but just couldn't get the finish. And I feel like Eubank sort of out-experienced him and out-maned him at the end, and I mean, he was leaning on him on the rope from punching away, and I felt like a couple of them rounds that he was doing that, I felt like that's kind of what give Eubank the decision. Tony, there were moments there when, you know, the crowd stood and applauded

just spontaneously several, the eighth round was just incredible. I mean, it was, it was, and there were moments there when I thought Connor was in trouble, about six or seven, and you pulled him back, I think at the eighth, you said, you're hurting him, now throw the second shot, let your hands go, because he had a,

I think it was six or seven, Eubank started to measure, then Connor came back into it. I mean, it was a relent, I mean, I was at the first fight, you know that. That reminded me of the first. fight between the dads. It really did. It had that same feel and look to it and intensity. Yeah. And like you say, like he's an incredible fight and look, they've been in the Ubank and

we was always going to expect that fight, you know. But listen, I'm proud of what he's done tonight. He's not in his weight division. And also he's been out of the ring a long, long time, Stephen. You know yourself through experience that inactivity, he does play a part in boxing you can spar as well as you can but you need to be active and I think through this fight he's still young man and he's got still got a lot left in him

and through this fight I think he'll learn a hell of a lot I mean he just lost to the number one ranked middleweight in the world you know what I mean by the way and he weighed nowhere near middleweight for the fight so you know he's got a massive future in front of him as like Eddie Irman was saying

like if he dropped down to 147 you got a really fancy him against all the top contenders there because, you know, to hurt a middleweight like he did a few times. You can imagine what he'll be doing to one four or seven fighters.

I always wonder when fighters lose especially when they take it heavy. What's your plan? Were you leaving for a few days or will you actually get with him and get close to him, Tom? Or have you not thought about it yourself yet? I'm asking your personal stuff. Yeah, of course.

Well, he said to me he don't want to talk about tactics at the minute, but obviously I'll have to I've got to talk to him about it eventually but like you said I'll give him a few days and then you'll want to talk about it anyway, do you know what I mean? Because obviously there's the rematch clause but then he has got options of

fighting for dropping back down to his original weight so you know we're going to see what we'll do next but I believe there's more in him. I've seen more in him inspiring I know he's got much more ability even though it's a great fight tonight I know he's got much more boxing ability in him and

you know, I think there's a lot to come from him and like you say, it's like it was an incredible night for boxing. That was a very emotional and drained Connor Ben and, well, you know, an equally emotional Tony Sims. Let's also hear, Rich whilst we're running through people that we could talk to, let's also hear from, I tell you what, Stacy was with us at ringside, let's hear from Stacy who talked to Ben Shalom.

Because if I'm not mistaken, I think Ben Shalomphal, the scores were a bit wide. Here's Stacey with Ben Shalom. Goodness me, it's not many nights that you get to promote like this, Ben, even in a long career. That was something else. The fight itself, I think, went beyond all of our expectations. Listen, as Chris Euban Jr's promoter,

I hoped it would be a lot easier than that. I have to say, I thought Connor Ben was superb. I really do. I think he prepared really well and caused a lot of problems, and in the end it came down to will and grit and determination, and I actually think Chris won it in those last two rounds. It had what the best fights have, that shift in momentum when you think, you know, that they're taking the upper hand and then they are.

It just went back and forth, back and forth. And ultimately, as you say, perhaps it did come down to that sheer will and heart. Absolutely. I think, look, he asked a lot of questions of Chris. And I'm sure Chris, after six or seven rounds, was thinking, what have I just got myself into? But he dug deep, he breathed, and it just became an absolute firefighter. And it was back and forth?

Look, was it the most technical fight in the world? No. We didn't expect to see that. It was an absolute brawl. Both of them back and forth and swinging from the rooftops. And in the end, Chris came through as we thought he would. But what phenomenal performance from both guys and could have gone either way.

So even Ben Chalom saying he thought they were a bit wide. Not arguing about the result, but just saying he thought they were a bit wide. The best B2B marketing gets wasted on the wrong people. So when you want to reach the right professionals, use LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over one billion professionals. including 130 million decision makers, and that's where it stands apart from other ad buys.

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A man straps himself into a car on the world's most dangerous racetrack. He whispers to himself, It's time to put my balls on the dashboard. As he starts the engine. In 15 minutes, he's in an ambulance, unconscious. In 15 years, he's a billionaire. This is Toto Wolf, Formula One's most powerful team boss and the breakout star of Drive to Survive.

This week on Good Bad Billionaire, how Toto Wolf made his billions. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Which I want to try and somehow wind it back and if this sounds all a bit chaotic, it's understandable. It's very, very late. We've been outside for an awful long time

and we've just witnessed something that none of us were prepared for. None of us expected to see some kind of classic slugfest, a fight that will win fight at the year, a fight where two men pushed themselves to places that they've never been, and as I said earlier in the pod, They never even dreamed they couldn't go to.

So we're all a little bit shell-shocked, if you don't mind, misanswer. We're all a bit amazed by what we witnessed here tonight. Let's take it back a little bit. At about, I don't know, two and a half, three hours before the first bell, a large roar went up inside the stadium. It was mostly full, probably 60-odd thousand in there. And we saw on the big screens a massive black car pull up,

the door opened and outjump Chris Eubank, Sr., who, of course, told me outside Buckingham Palace a couple of weeks ago. that he would not under any circumstances be ringside. And Chris Eubank had told me earlier this week that last week, rather that he wishes his father would be ringside, but he doesn't think there's any chance his father will be ringside. The two of them embraced, and then the place erupted. And then he came in to simply the best.

I can feel myself getting emotional that. Rich, that was off the scale. Yeah, it was off the scale. And it really got to me, actually. They got to me as well. Yeah, it got to me, especially when the car pulled up and you've seen, UBank Senior get out the car, and obviously he's with Eubank Jr. And they're together because it was the biggest roar there tonight was when people saw that.

And, you know, forget about the fight. It was that they were both together again. And like I say, it just brought back memories of me and my dad and throughout my career, you see. I couldn't imagine a moment without my dad in my career. And so I know how much it meant to Eubank Jr. to have his dad there. And I said before the fight, that's massive that is. And some people didn't agree with me, but I'm telling you what, Steve, that was absolutely huge in terms of his confidence,

knowing that his dad's in his corner. Well, Eubank admitted there that Eubank Jr. admitted there that it did add something and it did help him. Because what he said to me at the start of the week when he said, I hope my dad's there, Steve, but I don't think he will be. But then he also was quick to say, but if he's there, it will make no difference to the outcome of the fight. Well, I have a feeling it may have made a difference tonight.

I have a feeling, you know that when you need that extra bit, Rich. You know, and this was a fight tonight where you needed the extra bit in maybe 10 to 12 rounds. Yeah. When you had to dig a little bit deeper, when you wanted to look out the ring, you wanted a glance or something, when you wanted to feel a bit of inspiration, the father came round to the corner for the last four or five rounds, and he came around a couple, a few rounds earlier than that. When you just want to hear somebody, you want a little tap,

on your leg and just catch a glimpse of someone. If you just need a little lift, then I have a feeling that Chris Eubanks, you may have given his son just that little lift tonight. Could have been the difference. Hey, who knows? We will never know. But the fact that Chris acknowledged that it did make a difference.

Also great to see Nigel and Chris embracing, Nigel and embracing in the ring. Warriors. Yeah, I mean, it was, it was, we know that for, what Chris said that he was surprised. He admitted that he underestimated Connor Ben. Yes. He underestimated Connor Ben and I don't necessarily think that added to the fight.

The fight was going to be a terrific fight anyway. It obviously turns out now because what it was about in the end, really, Rich, was just pride. Yeah, it was pride. It was just family, ancient history and pride. If you look at the interviews after the fight in the ring, the Eubanks, there were, was so, especially, obviously Junior, he was so relieved, like a way to go off his shoulders. He's got the victory because obviously he's got so much to live up to because of his father and the victory that his father had over in Nigel Ben, Sr.

So, and you know what I loved as well though, Steve? I liked, I really enjoyed and liked the interview that Connor Ben and Nigel gave, because he was just honest. Nigel Ben says, yeah, okay, it wasn't our night, but we'll just go back to the gym. We'll go back to the drawing board. It was so honest. It was fantastic. It was Nigel Ben all over that.

We'll be stronger through it. Yeah, he said, we'll be stronger through it. And then you could see that Connor Ben, he was exhorted. He'd given absolutely everything. Everything. The kid couldn't have given him all. Neither would have them could, which. Neither would have been.

But in many respects, it was just as good a performance from Ben as it was you, because he's this naturally smaller man at the end of the day. And deep down, before this fight, Steve, I thought it would, it would be a U-bank victory, but fairly comfortable. And I told people, because I thought he was just too big for him. And I never expected that. And after six rounds, it looked that way. Yeah.

And I thought, well, here we go. And that's what I thought. We're going to go see his stoppage now. And then he puts that performance in, which was just, it's just astonished everyone that us. Yeah. I mean, I mean, the people that believe that we were, that was some kind of circus fight, some kind of carnival show,

and that we were not going to get anything like we were, We're not going to get anything to compare with the meetings between the fathers in 1990 and 93. They were so wide of the mark. It's not a case of whether it was a better fight than the first fight between the two Eubank and Ben, or if it was a better fight than the rematch at Old Trafford between Eubank and Ben. It's not a case. The point is it can sit with them. Yes.

It was that type of fight. And it was similar in styles. And I really mean this. I said this after a couple of rounds when we were. you and I and Fletch were talking during the fight. It was really similar to me. If I squinted in my eyes, I really got flashbacks to that first fighting,

but I know you were ringside as well. I was real flashbacks to that, Rich. The second fight was a lot cagedier, and they both were a bit smarter. But that first fight was just leave all your, it was just all about heart guts and pride then. Well, I've seen Conor Ben box six or seven times now, but that was the time that,

last contest I've just seen, that's the most I've ever seen him like his dad. The way he fought there was exactly like Nigel. Reckless, throwing punches from all different angles. Snarling like his dad. Snarling if they connect. Getting hit with a shot and just coming back and just throwing the kitchen sink at his opponent. Tonight reminded me more of Nigel than any other time that I'd seen Conradale. Absolutely.

And I thought there were moments when Chris tonight looked more and more like his father, Chris, to be perfectly honest. with you. The event itself was incredible. The crowd, I mean, I think the crowd

just couldn't believe it. From the simply the best entry with obviously with Eubank Senior on the stage. Great for boxing, Steve.

And then the fight itself because when you, I mean, let's not, let's not mess around. When you have a stadium fight, inevitably, some people are going to be an awful long way away.

Okay, let's get that right. But a fight like this tonight really fits for a stadium fight. Because you think about the dynamic of it, you've got two guys who are slugging and you've got coniferous massive shots. In the 75 quid seat, about two and a half miles away, that looks like a good shot.

So it's a perfect fight for a stadium. It's a perfect fight for an outdoor night. And Steve, you see, that is a fantastic, that's a great point, because a fairly decent fight in a stadium like this can look a boring fight. Absolutely. Because if you're miles away,

and it's a fairly decent fight, but you know, you're looking and it's not really, nothing's catching on. Then it doesn't look that good, but everyone was on their feet with that fight. In Rozad, it was miles away. They were screaming, shame.

Oh, you know, I was trying to look up as far as I could, up into the hazy gods in some of the seats. And you couldn't really tell, but you could tell people were standing. And also, the stand innovations, round eight, I think,

round ten and so. I think it was round eight, when they got up the first time. Gordon Ramsey was right in front of us. Marcus Rashford was four seats away, could nearly touch him. Declan Rice was sitting next to Marcus Rashford. I don't know if that means Declan Rice is going to be going to Aston Villa. I don't know.

I'm a bit confused. The football's not as hot as it used to be. But quite seriously, Rich, there was a spontaneous move at the end of the 8th. And I'll stand there. I stood up and clapped at the end of the 8th and at the end of the 10th. Because the 8th will live long in memory. Absolutely, yeah. So you're seeing that then.

I think you're seeing it in a couple of the other rounds as well after that, Steve. Most of the rich. People literally, you looked around and some people just got up and started clapping because what they were witnessing, it was toe to toe non-stop and anything could have happened at any time. At one point, I thought, yes, Chris Eubanks getting on top now with these lice jabs. And then Conor Ban would bring a punch from nowhere. In the last round, it looked like one of them could stop the other. It looked like they could both stop each other.

It looked like, Steve, that at any point, one of him is going to walk onto a shutter. It's all going to be over. It was one of those type of contests. I mean, there was a point in the last 30 seconds of that fight when I thought Conner was going to get stopped. I thought he was really hurt. More than that, he was absolutely exhausted. And almost through Connor's legs and just underneath Conner's arms, there was this ridiculous scene where you got Eddie Herne up throwing punches in the front row. Turkey out of the shape.

the man who was the sort of promoter through Ring magazine of this, of the event of this show. The guy who's the boss, who's the boss man of the whole Saudi Arabia thing. He was up throwing punches. Nigel Ben was throwing punches. Chris Eubank Sr. was throwing punches. Gordon Ramsey was ducking and throwing punches.

Declan Rice was up throwing uppercuts. It was completely ridiculous. And that was like in the last 10, 15 seconds. And it was, that's that moment, Rich. I always talk about this. When you got that thing where, to me, what happens then? It's a bit of rocky plays in my mind. I start to hear rocky music.

Steve, I totally agree. It was a rocky sort of contest. Because I really believe, Steve, like I says, it could have ended at any time from any boxer. Either boxer could have landed a shot where it could have been all over. The one shot that really made a difference, I thought, was from Conrad Benny's left duck that shook Eubank. I think it was late on in the fight.

It might be around eight, round nine, something like that. Maybe it was an eighth round that led to the stand and applause. Yeah, it was incredible. But, you know, Eubank Jr. recovered from it. But that was the only time when his legs actually really, really went. But it was a contest, Steve, that if it was given a draw, I don't think no one would have moaned you know.

Absolutely, Ritchie. No one would have moaned if it was a draw. That's a great point. I thought overall he just got it by a couple of rounds. But if they'd give a draw, you know, Mara says, yeah, well, fair enough, it's a draw. So, Ritchie, there is a rematch clause for the fight. Immediately after the fight, Connor Ben talked about doing it again. Eddie Hearn obviously said, I'm assuming Connor will want to do it again.

It makes a lot of sense. I mean, obviously, in theory, Connor Benner would have the option to dropping back to middleweight and going somewhere there. And they're all good fights. And as we pointed out to people at ringside, they're all good fights. but they're peanuts fights compared to, compared to a rematch between these two. Because there were 67,000 people in there, Richard, and they all sent messages and pictures to 10 people.

So suddenly, by my calculations, you've got 670,000 people who also sent the pictures of Bill, Tom and Julie at the fight. Like that, a selfie. Millions of people tonight made contact and had contact with people. people that were here. And they all said the same thing, whether they were watching a film, whether they were in Coco in bed or whatever else people do in bed, or whether they were in pubs. They all said, I'm going to the next one.

I'm going to the next one. They did. And they said, I'll tell you what they said. I'm definitely going to the next one. That looks like a spiffing fight. I'll go to the next one. So millions of people. If you saw, and I do this line quite a lot.

If you sold tickets at midnight tonight for the next one, you'd sell 67,000 by about two minutes past midnight. That's the absolute truth. So, Rich, rematch. But you made a point. Yes. It's going to be a long time. Yeah. It's going to be, in my opinion, it's going to be a long time. This is not a rematch in three and a half months. No.

You know, I mean, it took... Now then, it could be a Wembley Stadium rematch. Wemortemate. Chris Eubank, Sr., told me, or I reminded him, and then he told me absolutely true, it took him seven weeks to recover. He was in and out of baths for two days. It was

in and out of his head was his actual expression, seven weeks before he felt able to do anything remotely normal. That was after that fight. These two will be the same. It will take two months of doing nothing, pure convalescing to get their bodies and their heads even in shape to enter into training. Yes, and then if you're talking about a stadium fight,

then you're not talking this year because the summer will be gone. So it's got to be next year. Eubank Jr. will be 36. if you struggle to make the weight this time. Well, actually, Steve, let's just talk about that just for a minute because I'm convinced now he wasn't struggling at the weight

because he wouldn't have performed like that. He's just been, he stood toe to toe for 12 rounds. I've been trying to say this on social media all over the weekend. It would have been up. It'd have been faded by six or seven at that pace. So he wasn't struggling on the weight. But I would say that it would be 36. Yes, it will be a little bit harder to make the weight.

But it's a stage. fight. So forget this year. It'll be next year. It could do Wembley Stadium. Yeah, I think it'll sell out. You know what? It's also, but his body will have rested. So it'll be 36, 37, whatever it'll be. And you won't fight again until that fight. Bingo. So he's got a year off to get his body right to make 15 million quid. I think we know the answer to that. Exactly. We've witnessed, you and I have, over the last, whatever it is, 30 or years, whisper it, we've been ringside at some beauties around the world. We have. whether it's in Las Vegas or whether it's in somewhere in Britain or whether it's in Saudi.

We've seen some of the greatest fights involving British boxers and world boxers in the last 35 years. I'm not going to put this one at the top of that list but I'm going to put it with the... I'm going to put it with them. It's added to the list, Richie. It's added to the list, definitely.

Definitely. Yeah, it's one that will live long in the memory, Steve, because I didn't expect it. And it was every round was action-packed, and you didn't know which way it was going to go. That's what I loved about it. And it was a classic.

Wow. So that's the story of the day and the story of the fight. Now, it doesn't end boxing. It doesn't risk. We're not back next Saturday. We're going to be back, or we think, we hope, on Monday. With a massive story. Another outdoor extravaganza.

It's relentless. We're putting a shift on that day as well. I'm Steve Bunce. It has been an honor and a privilege all week. And this is five. Live boxing. It's the scandal that rocked rugby union to its core. The so-called Bloodgate scandal. Tom Williams now receiving attention. It seems so clear that this wasn't real blood. It's out and out-nows. Cheating. This is a story of lies and deception, conspiracies and cover-ups.

There was terror that it could tear the house down. Courtroom drama and secret deals. So obviously a lie. And a human cost that changed lives and careers forever. Richards is found guilty and banned for three years. I'm Ross Kemp and this is Sports Strangers Crimes Bloodgate. Listen on BBC Sounds.