Chris Eubank Jr. Misses Friday Weight- Gets Hefty Penalty

Controversy continues to surround Saturday night’s middleweight showdown between the sons of legends in Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn. This, as Eubank Jr missed the 160 lb. middleweight limit twice at the official weigh-ins Friday afternoon in London.

Chris Eubank Jr Misses Weight for Conor Benn Fight

Eubank Jr vs Benn: Weight Controversy

First, Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) missed by a quarter of a pound (.25) from the legal limit for the Saturday night Riyadh Season main event at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. He was then given an hour to try to make the middleweight limit and was still.05 lb over. That means Eubank Jr. will contractually forfeit $500,000 to Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) due to the missed weight. The hefty penalty is in the contract because of a contentious back and forth between the two fighters stemming back to Benn having failed PED tests leading up to the original scheduled date of this fight in 2023, which was cancelled.

Benn, who’s primarily been fighting as a welterweight or junior middleweight is moving up to 160 lb. and comfortably made the weight at 156 lb. Friday. Meanwhile, Eubank has fought at both middleweight and super middleweight (168 lb.) and it was a large concern that he would not be able to make the 160 lb limit.

That’s why the weight contract stipulations were put in for each fighter. There are also stipulations that there will be a Saturday morning weigh-in in which neither fighter can weigh more than 170 lb. or again, it’s half a million pounds for every pound you are over the limit.

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn: Build Up and Controversy

The build-up to the fight has been contentious, to say the least, including Eubank Jr. taking out anger on Benn in a press conference prank, where he smashed a raw egg, shell and all on Benn’s face to mock him for having claimed that his positive PED test for the substance Clomifiene were due to ingesting tainted eggs. That move caused Eubank Jr.a $100,000 fine from the British Boxing Board of Control. It should be pointed out that the BBBoC could also still fine Eubank Jr. for missing the weight in addition to the half million dollar penalty he has to give to Benn.

As was discussed on our “Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast,” out Friday morning, our Insider Dan Rafael pointed out that Chris Eubank Sr. wants nothing to do with his son’s matchup for Benn and may not even attend the bout. This is not only because of Ben’s positive drug tests in the past, but also, for fear of hydration problems for Eubank Jr. having to get down to the middleweight limit and then, the 10 lb. rehydration weigh-in limit on the day of the fight.

You can hear the Podcast with Dan and T.J. going over all aspects of the bout by clicking the player below,

The highly anticipated main event has already sold out the 65,000-seat venue and a large part of the buildup is that Eubank Si. and Benn’s father, Nigel Benn, fought two tremendous battles in the early 1990s with Eubank Sr. scoring a 9th round knockout in their first bout and their second bout ending in a 12 round draw 3 years later.

Now, controversies and all, the sons are on the verge of renewing the “family rivalry” on Saturday.

Stay with Big Fight Weekend for the latest on the second way in Saturday and the fight coverage for Saturday night.