“That was not Chris Eubank Jr in the ring.”
Those are the words of promoter Ben Shalom, addressing his client’s rematch with Conor Benn during a Tuesday morning visit to the talkSPORT studios.
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Eubank Jr was dropped twice in the 12th round by Benn en route to a wide unanimous decision lossCredit: Getty
While Eubank Jr came out on top in their barnstorming inaugural encounter in April, ‘Next Gen’ was a step behind Benn in every department when they renewed their hostilities earlier this month.
According to Shalom, the changing of the tide had more to do with Eubank Jr’s physical condition than the disciplined display that Benn received heavy plaudits for in the immediate aftermath.
“I think anyone with any sort of brain can see that wasn’t Eubank Jr, he was a shell of himself,” Shalom told talkSPORT’s Jim White and Simon Jordan.
“I think he threw 30 per cent of the punches that he threw in the first fight.
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“He was finished, he was done, he didn’t even have the energy to fight back.
“I don’t want to make excuses because at the end of the day, a lot of fans paid a lot of money to go and see that fight and what an event it was.
“But Chris was not in the state he should have been to have a fight like that.”
What went wrong?
Asked to expand on why Eubank Jr wasn’t in a ‘fit state to fight’, Shalom remained coy.
“That is for him to talk about. All I’ll say is that he knew, and we knew on the day that he was not right,” added Shalom.
“We knew it was going to be a tough ask to see the Chris Eubank Jr that we all know, to even see the Chris Eubank Jr of the first fight, which wasn’t his best performance either.
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Shalom insists Eubank Jr was a ‘shell of himself’ in the ringCredit: Getty
“Personally, I was in awe of the way he got into the ring and gave everything that he could, but it was under extremely testing circumstances.”
An underlying health condition?
Jordan then pressed Shalom on whether it was an “underlying health condition” that had hampered Eubank Jr’s performance.
The talkSPORT presenter even insisted he had heard that a problem with the pugilist’s digestion had caused him serious issues in the lead-up to fight night.
However, Shalom remained steadfast in his commitment not to delve into the particulars.
“Listen, I am not going to go there, I am not going to comment on it,” he remarked.
This isn’t the first time we have heard rumblings of Eubank Jr entering the ring in a depleted state.
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A lot was made of the rehydration clause inserted into both men’s contractsCredit: Getty
The man himself revealed at the post-fight press conference that he had ‘been through hell’ just to get into the ring.
But, like Shalom, he stopped short of revealing exactly what he meant.
Did the rehydration clause play a part?
Throughout the build-up, a lot was made of the 10lbs rehydration clause inserted into both men’s contracts.
Eubank Jr was hospitalised after their first fight with severe dehydration, stemming from a difficult weight cut.
While Shalom wouldn’t explicitly point to this as the reason for Eubank Jr’s laboured performance, he did make his feelings crystal clear on rehydration clauses.
“A lot of people talk about the weight, and the rehydration clause in particular is something that shouldn’t exist in boxing,” continued Shalom.
“There are doctors who will tell you that. I think the Board should get across that now.
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“I think it should be outlawed from British boxing completely, and one day that could go wrong, and there will be people to answer for it.
“It’s up to a fighter what weight they want to make, but of course, I would like to see him at 168lbs.”