Chris Eubank Junior says he is not at all interested in calling it a career after his return fight with British rival Conor Benn. With people such as Eddie Hearn, and Eubank’s own father, suggesting the 36 year old could, even should, have his final fight on Saturday night, this the “Next Gen” sequel to April’s savage battle with Benn, Eubank himself says he aims to engage in “even bigger fights next year.”
Eubank Jr, speaking with Sky Sports, said his plan is to fight for as long as he possibly can, for “as long as I have that fire inside me.” Eubank, who is a narrow betting favourite to repeat his win over Benn at the weekend, argues how it is better for a fighter to call it a career when the time comes that they are “on a downswing,” or are “not physically able to keep doing what you’ve been doing.” Not when they are still winning big fights.
Eubank Jr: “As Long as the Fire’s There, I Fight”
In other words, Eubank plans to fight until he has absolutely nothing left. And he says he has not reached that point yet.
“I’m very happy that I’ve been able to have two massive fights this year and I think next year we’re going to have even bigger ones,” Eubank said. “Why not? Like I said, as long as that fire’s in me, I’m going to be in that ring. My dad wants me to sail off into the sunset but you don’t do that. You do that when you’re on a downswing or you’re not physically able to keep doing what you’ve been doing, not after a huge win.”
But Does Eubank Have Another Big Win in Him?
But will Eubank get the “huge win” on Saturday? Some people do feel Eubank took a heck of a lot of punishment in the first Benn fight and that might have been his last great effort. How much more has Eubank got left after an at times hard, even gruelling career? Hearn has said he fully expects Saturday’s fight to be “old” Eubank’s last, while Eubank Senior is against the fight happening at all, with him again saying how dangerous it is for his son to be boiling down to 160-pounds.
If Eubank does win, though, who might he fight in “even bigger fights next year?” Though he has in the recent past mentioned names like Canelo and Terence Crawford, Eubank says that right now he is solely focused on Conor Benn and nobody else. This is of course the way it should be. Eubank might have enough left to be able to hand Benn a second defeat, but Saturday’s fight really could go either way.
If Benn did manage to even the score, could there be a trilogy fight?
