Conor Benn‘s promoter Eddie Hearn has backed his fighter to send Chris Eubnak Jr into retirement in their highly-anticipated bout on Saturday night.
The two long-time rivals will face off on Saturday night in a rematch of their classic in April, which saw Eubank Jr win the bout before being rushed to hospital with dehydration.
The two fighters weighed in on Friday evening in what was an uneventful showing that saw neither fighter exchange words, despite a long face-off.
Hearn, though, has made a bold prediction, despite Benn coming out second best last time out.
‘I just know that a lot of people around him didn’t want him to carry on fighting after the last fight,’ Hearn told The Sun. ‘And I think this fight will be the same kind of fight in terms of how taxing it’ll be, how tough it’ll be.
‘I just think he’s coming to the end of his career. What is he, 36? You can’t have too many fights like that, so let’s see how he performs on Saturday, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his last fight.’
Eddie Hearn (right) has predicted that Conor Benn (right) will box Chris Eubank Jr (left) into retirement
Hearn has predicted that 36-year-old Eubank Jr will find proceedings tough due to his age
Eubank Jr will be joined by his father Chris Eubank Sr after the pair reconciled prior to the first fight.
Sr has made it clear that he is keen for his son to give up his career, too, but Jr has refused to make any promises.
‘I am a fighter,’ he said. ‘This is my life, this is what I was born to do and I have heard people, even my father, say retirement is on the cards, I should sail off into the sunset. It is just not who I am.
‘As long as I have that fire in me to keep getting in the ring, keep getting in the gym, waking up early, I love the lifestyle.
‘I love who I am as a fighter and the way it makes me feel, so that’s all it is. Testing myself, giving the fans what they want to see and pushing myself as far as I can go. That’s the motivation.’
Eubank Jr, meanwhile, was fined £375,000 after missing the 160lbs limit by 0.05lbs in the first encounter, having had to abide by strict conditions that were inked into the contract.
The same rules applied for the rematch, taking place this Saturday night at Tottenham Stadium, with Benn tipping the scales at 159.3lbs. Eubank Jr weighed in slightly lighter at 159.1lbs.