A good big ’un will beat a good little ’un has been a reliable pointer for as long as I have been in boxing, and I’m struggling to escape that truism when considering Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn.
The reality is Benn is a welterweight, Eubank has campaigned at super middleweight against the likes of George Groves, James DeGale and Arthur Abraham. Groves is one of the biggest punching super-middles ever and he could not get rid of Eubank.
The reason we have weight divisions is to take account of difference. Benn is 28, an age when you have reached your physical potential. He has levelled out at welterweight and that is the most significant factor in this fight.
Though Benn has had one fight at light-middleweight and another at 150 pounds, both against journeymen, he was taken the distance each time.
This fight is at middleweight. Eubank can boil himself down to 160 pounds but in recent years has campaigned more comfortably at super-middleweight.
Boiling himself down to 160 cost him in the first fight against Liam Smith. He was caught with a flurry of shots and stopped in the fourth.
The question is does Benn have the power to take him out, especially as Eubank could be at least a stone heavier when they enter the ring.
To win Benn has to come out like lightning and try to catch Eubank in the first half dozen rounds. I know his dad has been talking him up in sparring. But you would expect that.
Not only is Eubank bigger, Benn has not fought anyone of his pedigree. Yes he looked good knocking out Samuel Vargas, Chris Algieri and Chris van Heerden, but when he stepped up marginally in weight he could not budge opponents who are not in Eubank’s league.
Eubank knows how this will play out. He will take the centre of the ring, block and counter while the storm blows out. It’s a taming exercise, tuck up and look to expose any flaws as Benn puts it on him. Then Eubank will come on strong, using his physicality.
Neither of them are their fathers. Their dads were just bigger and better. That’s the reality. It was a special time. As much as I admire both kids, this fight will never match those.
I’d be happy to be wrong but I think the bigger man will turn out to be the better man in this fight, powering to victory in the later rounds.
Follow Barry on X at @ClonesCyclone @mcguigan’s_Gym
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