CHRIS EUBANK JR is the one in danger in Saturday night’s mixed-weight war with Conor Benn, according to former opponent George Groves.
The 37-year-old sealed a thrilling points win against Eubank Jr in 2018 as he defended his WBA super-middleweight title.
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And the Saint knows the hell Eubank Jr is going through, boiling his 5ft 11in frame down to 11st 6lb, seven years later, at the age of 35.
By contrast, Benn has not boxed at his original welterweight limit of 10st 7lb since 2022 and enjoyed his last two victories at the super- welterweight limit of 11st.
An emotional Chris Eubank Sr told SunSport this week that his son will have to melt and dehydrate 20lb off, to make the 160lb limit.
While Benn can pack on 6lb of muscle for the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Groves, now training and managing rising cruiserweight Lucas Roehrig, said: “Taking off a few pounds is hard, it will be hard for him, you can see it’s hard for him.
“This is at middleweight and there is nothing wrong with that.
“Conor is a middleweight now, he will never touch welterweight again.
“Conor had two fights at 154lb and is now at middleweight.
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“People don’t tend to get hurt when they move up in weight, it’s when you are cutting weight and dehydrating that you are more likely to get hurt.
“If you are dehydrated in camp and sparring and getting caught, you get hurt.
“So the danger is for Chris Eubank Jr.”
The one anomaly on Eubank Jr’s record is a violent stoppage loss to Liam Smith in January 2023. It is the only time the granite-chinned brawler has been stopped and he avenged it seven months later in sensational style.
And super-smart Groves points to the fact that Eubank Jr had starved himself down towards the 157lb catchweight limit the original Benn bout was made at, just three months earlier, and looked emaciated.
He said: “When Chris went down to fight at 157lb, after he had boxed mostly at 168lb, that was a step too far. That was forcing a square peg in a round hole.
“He couldn’t beat me at 168lb and went down. And when he went down to middleweight and lost to Liam Smith, I thought it was the weight cut that did him.”
Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn
THE countdown is ON to one of the biggest boxing events of the 21st Century
Familial tension and a rivalry that has been brewing for years will finally be resolved when Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn meet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night.
There has been huge drama in the build-up with the pair engaged in a war of words and multiple clashes in person.
SunSport will have full coverage of the blockbuster clash all week and LIVE round-by-round coverage of every fight on a stacked undercard.
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The pre-fight media events so far have been box office.
Eubank Jr smashed an egg over his second-generation rival — to the disappointment of his father Chris — to remind the world of Benn’s excuse for the 2022 doping case that got the first clash axed.
Back then Benn claimed the reason he tested positive for women’s fertility drug Clomifene was because he had eaten too many eggs.
Eubank Jr also accused the son of British ring legend Nigel of owing promoter Eddie Hearn millions of pounds. It has not been the usual show staged to flog tickets.
Groves recognises a cunning mastermind at work. He said: “A lot of the build-up to most fights is boring.
“I don’t want to go to press conferences and watch Eddie Hearn interview everyone one-by-one.
“Chris has been prepared for every stage of this build-up.
“Chris has brought his A-game. He might have moved his line in the sand to somewhere that his dad would not have gone to.
“But I am certain he knows what he is doing and he knew Conor would implode. The fight is about who can hold their nerve.
“What you see is what you get from Conor Benn, he is going to come out hard and fast, he is going to try to land something big early.
“Let’s see if Eubank can get past those first three or four rounds. I still make Eubank the favourite.”
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