Where Chris Eubank Jr is involved, Billy Joe Saunders is never far away, and now he’s weighed in on his next fight with Conor Benn.
Saunders beat Eubank Jr in 2014 by split decision in a battle for the British, Commonwealth and European middleweight titles and the pair have had a bitter rivalry ever since.
That’s why it’s no surprise Saunders is backing Benn to beat Eubank Jr in their October 8 fight at London’s O2 Arena.
“A lot of people favor Eubank because of its size,” Saunders said on DAZN’s Flash Knockdown podcast.
“You know, the smart thing the Benns did here is obviously put a weight restriction on it. Now it all depends on how he’s going to handle it at 32 [years old].
“I’m going to present it as a complete 50/50 fight. If you could give Conor Benn another year of experience and then give him the weight storyline advantage, I would most definitely say Conor Benn without hesitation.
“With the experience of Eubank, he’s been in some big fights, but Conor Benn, you can never rule him out and I just feel like he’s going to pull something out of the bag.
“I talked to him [Conor]I’ve been talking to him for a while, he seems so calm, he wants it so badly, and there’s something at play here that no one will ever understand, only them.
“I think Conor wants more.”
After Saunders emerged victorious against Eubank Jr all those years ago, he became a two-weight world champion, setting a 30-1 record, with his only loss to Canelo.
Meanwhile Eubank Jr never quite managed to reach the same heights, failing in his only world title bid against George Groves in 2018 and Saunders claimed he believed the Brighton-based boxer would never win world title.
“I stand by this statement as long as my name is Billy Joe Saunders he will never become world champion as long as he has a hole in his ass because there is one thing he cannot do and that is the box.”
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