Boxing

Eddie Hearn Addresses Chris Eubank Sr Being Paid To Attend Son's Fight vs Conor Benn

Eddie Hearn got honest about the theory that Chris Eubank Sr. was paid to attend his son's April 26 fight against Conor Benn.

Grant Young

Eddie Hearn after the WBC Interim World Flyweight bout at the BP Pulse Live on November 30, 2024.
Eddie Hearn after the WBC Interim World Flyweight bout at the BP Pulse Live on November 30, 2024. / IMAGO / PA Images

While the April 26 fight between British boxing icons Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn delivered, there's a case to be made that several moments in the fight's lead-up (all of which pertain to Chris Eubank Sr.'s decision to attend the fight) outshone the bout's actual outcome.

After asserting several times that he would not be showing up to his son's fight, Chris Eubank Sr. — who fought Conor Benn's father Nigel several times about 30 years ago — appeared to change his mind at the last moment, and cameras caught him entering the arena and reuniting with his son shortly before the Benn fight began.

It's currently unknown whether Eubank Sr. truly changed his mind at the last minute or if he was going to attend this fight all along and didn't tell anybody. And this uncertainty has many fans believing that Eubank Sr.'s decision was because he was getting paid to come rather than from genuinely wanting to do so.

Matchroom Boxing Chairman (and Conor Benn's promoter) Eddie Hearn spoke on this theory during his April 29 appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.

"I knew it would be very difficult for Sr. not to be there. He loves the big moments. And also, it's his son, so you hope that there was an element of that as well," Hearn said. "But then I found out that Turki Alalshikh was on the case on Friday, and I thought 'In that case, he'll definitely be there.' [Alalshikh] wanted to make sure Eubank [Sr.] was there."

When Helwani asked Hearn directly whether Eubank Sr. was paid to be there, Heard said, "I want to just believe it was the romance. And there has to be an element of that, right?"

While Hearn didn't state it directly (and perhaps doesn't know), him suggesting that Turki Alalshikh (whose financial backing makes him the sport's most powerful man) "was on the case" speaks volumes.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Boxing, Women’s Basketball, and the New York Mets for On SI. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years, and he thinks it’s time that Canelo Álvarez fights David Benavidez.