Two donkeys can make a derby. That cryptic sentence from George Groves puts into crystal perspective Saturday night’s ballyhooed punch-up in north London.
A masterpiece in the marketing of a family rivalry which is being lauded above its standing in the annals of this hard old game.
To cushion any sense of insult, Groves goes on to explain his evaluation of Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn as they brace for their rematch.
‘They both gave everything they had in their first fight,’ says Groves. ‘All credit to them for that. Their courage and commitment gave the public something entertaining to watch.
‘They proved it doesn’t take two great boxers to produce an exciting fight. Just two men who have different talents but who are competitive on more or less the same level in the sport.’
Groves is in company with many of Britain’s former world champions in being wary of the use of superlatives about a rivalry manufactured by reflections on the fabled exploits of their fathers.
Chris Eubank Jr (left) and Conor Benn (right) will face off in their grudge rematch on Saturday
Their first bout in April drew in a mega crowd – this time, not as many are likely to be in attendance
The wars between Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn — a knockout win by Chris then a draw — are stitched into the tapestry of British prize-fighting. Even if they come up with a second humdinger, their sons will go down in boxing history mostly for coming close to selling out a football ground by trading on the legacy of their elders.
It was quite an achievement to attract a crowd of more than 67,000 to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the spring. The turn-out at the same venue this time may not be quite so huge. Seats were still available on Friday. Perhaps the novelty has worn off somewhat.
Maybe the boxing purists were less impressed by the back-alley brawling than the event chasers. And there have been fewer box-office antics. No eggs cracked on cheeks.
Turki Alalshikh — Saudi Arabia’s boxing paymaster — has helped paper the house by gifting 2,000 tickets to London taxi drivers. Even so, this re-run is projected to gross £18million from the live gate and pay-TV subscriptions. Not close to the Âhundreds of millions of oil Âdollars pumped in the direction of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk by the Saudis but not too shabby for a cold night’s work in November.
Especially since there are no titles at stake. And there-in lies the rub. Some of the moguls Âtrying to take control of boxing have taken to denigrating the traditional belts so they can put on fights of fancy.
Eubank and Benn the youngers fought first time in the names of their fathers. This time, although personal pride is involved, it is mostly for the money.
Otherwise Eubank would not have agreed to that perilous limitation on his rehydration after starving down to middleweight. And Benn, having been beaten once, might not have risked bulking up two weight divisions again.
Carl Froch, who won his two epic world super-middleweight title battles with Groves, warns the size of the purses will not be the measure of their careers.
Eubank Jr is possessed of superior skills but was pulled into a brawl after an early blow last time
Benn, meanwhile, insists he has learned from his hot-headed approach to the first fight
‘My dream was always to win that historic gold-and-white WBC belt,’ says Froch. ‘When the chance came against Jean Pascal (in 2008), I was offered a million dollars to fight him in Canada but I took the £200,000 bid which gave me home advantage in Nottingham.
‘That title and the others that followed defined me in a way that an extra eight hundred grand never could.
‘Chris and Conor might put on another fun fight to watch but it won’t make them great fighters. That calls for quality boxing.’
Whether there will be more style than sheer slugging about this rematch may depend on whether Eubank changes his approach. He is possessed of superior skills but after he was shaken by a freak shot in round two of fight one he allowed himself to be sucked into a brawl.
He still won by decision, not least because Benn’s combine-harvester approach to the Noble Art generated more wild misses and slaps than scoring punches.
Conor swears he has learned from his hot-headed mistakes and improved his boxing but the thousands of onlookers on a six-pack night out will be hoping they both go for the jugular again.
As it happens, another long slog might serve Benn best, since a dehydrated and exhausted Eubank had to be hurried to hospital no sooner had he been declared the winner in April.
One over-exuberant commentator has pronounced this to be ‘the greatest rematch of recent boxing times’. Really? Greater than Joshua-Usyk II, greater than Fury-Usyk II, greater than Bivol-Beterbiev II, greater than the monstrous trilogy fight between Fury and Wilder?
It is important to sit up and enjoy the bout for what it is – despite the best boxing skills not necessarily being on display
Careful with that word ‘great’. Although hopefully we are in for some more fun and games. Sit up and enjoy this for what it is.
Benn has youth on his side. Eubank’s resume is the stronger not only in terms of experience but the quality of opponents. Class, if only by a degree, usually tells.