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podcasts This

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is five live boxing. Boxers

0:42

and promoters can promise a

0:44

great fight. They can say this

0:46

is going to be one of the all -time

0:48

classics. They can talk all sorts of stuff.

0:50

They can sell all sorts of fights, but sell

0:52

them. The much hyped

0:55

fights turn out to be

0:57

even better than the hype.

0:59

And that's what happened in

1:01

front of 67 ,000 people

1:03

at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

1:05

Conor Ben, against Chris

1:07

Eubank Jr. was literally

1:09

a fight for the ages. Sure

1:12

it was the Suns. It was

1:14

also unforgettable. I'm Steve

1:16

Bunt and this is Five Live

1:18

Boxing. We're

1:22

about to come inside because it did get

1:24

cold. It started off as a glorious

1:26

spring warm day and then it got cold.

1:29

So I'm inside with Richie Woodall and

1:31

As we walked in here, we're talking, we've

1:33

talked half a dozen different people, a

1:35

pair of us, and people were saying, that

1:37

was incredible, that was amazing, that was

1:39

ridiculous. I'm not quite sure

1:41

which we can work out what

1:43

we've just witnessed. Conor Ben and

1:45

Chris Eubang Jr fighting like they

1:47

did with all of that pride

1:50

for 12 rounds. When they were

1:52

both hurt, they were both stunned, they

1:54

both had to go to places

1:56

they'd never been before. and they probably

1:58

never imagined they would go before. You're

2:01

here now, you've seen a little

2:03

bit. We were both shocked by it. Let's get it

2:05

right. Shocked by what we witnessed. It was that

2:07

good, it stunned us. Yes, it was that good. I

2:10

didn't expect the intensity

2:12

of the contest like that. I

2:15

didn't think... I thought

2:17

we might see... kind

2:20

of been have a go early on

2:22

in the fight because I thought in

2:24

being the lighter man I thought he

2:26

might did first two or three rounds.

2:28

Yeah, which he did unbelievable speed and

2:30

I actually thought at one point He was

2:32

showing a lack of experience because he probably

2:34

went off a little bit too quick and

2:36

he was put he seems to be putting

2:38

everything into every shot Really early on in

2:40

the fight. I'm gonna set for the first

2:42

time in the pod like his father Yeah

2:44

exactly yeah there was some you know what

2:46

you could just see his father in him

2:48

with some of his movements and the way

2:50

he launched his right hands. More so than

2:52

any point in his career so far? Yes

2:54

definitely so there was a lot of intent

2:56

in his shots and I thought he's going

2:59

off a little bit too quick here and

3:01

he could burn himself out because he's not

3:03

experienced over 12 rounds so I

3:05

thought that it was a big

3:07

gamble. He obviously thought he had

3:09

a lot of confidence in his

3:11

power that he would catch you

3:13

Eubank Jr. But, you know,

3:16

he went off too quick for me and he kept

3:18

making mistakes. He was launching from too far out.

3:20

He wasn't measuring with his jab. I spoke

3:22

about it in commentary. Launching from too

3:24

far out. When you do that, Steve, you fall

3:26

short. And then I thought this is going to be

3:28

a matter of time before he walks onto a

3:30

good shot. I thought Eubank will suss him out of

3:32

here. He'll just adjust his feet and bring

3:34

him onto a big punch. But there was

3:36

still that intensity even in the opening round.

3:38

I mean, the first couple of shots, the

3:40

big shots, the Ben launch, which missed. I

3:43

mean, you've only got a collective, ooh, an

3:45

R from the 67 ,000 people that were

3:47

here. So even though he was missing with

3:49

shots, there was also a part of the

3:51

fabric of the fire. It was all part

3:53

of it. And there was that intensity. I

3:55

mean, they exchanged stuff, I think, at the

3:57

end of at least five or six of

3:59

the 12 rounds, certainly the first and second

4:01

round. I think the referee, Victor Locke, had

4:03

to separate them at the end of the

4:05

first round. The intensity. It was pulsating. You

4:07

could sense the entire atmosphere. Well, yeah, because

4:09

on the flip side, you see, then you

4:12

could argue, well, at some point, he may

4:14

catch you bank with one of these punches

4:16

that he's launching from the back of the

4:18

arena or whatever. Do you know what I

4:20

mean? So it was one of those. Now,

4:22

what I was impressed with more than anything,

4:24

I think, in the early stages was the

4:26

fast head movements. I absolutely love that. All

4:28

he needed to do was get close

4:30

enough then to make

4:32

you bank throw

4:34

a shot. roll, bob

4:37

underneath and then come out of the other

4:39

side with a hook. So we needed

4:42

to hook off the movement, which eventually started

4:44

to do that because I thought his

4:46

counter punching on the front foot was very,

4:48

very good because he's very, very sharp

4:50

and fast reactions. And he started to bring

4:52

this right hand over into play. Then

4:54

at one point, obviously wobbled in with a

4:56

fantastic left hook. And you thought, wow, I

5:00

didn't think that I did

5:02

overall, I didn't think that

5:04

Ben would keep it going. I thought he went

5:06

off far too quick, but he got a

5:08

second win from somewhere, Steve, and that's what made

5:10

it a classic, because he did keep it

5:12

going. This pod's working out a bit like the

5:15

fight. It's taken on a life of its

5:17

own. I mean, a fight like that, it's difficult

5:19

to break down in one, two, three, and

5:21

four. So we jumped a few rounds, but it

5:23

was a point. I think it was in

5:25

six or seven. When I said to

5:27

you, Rich, and I said, it's an odd

5:29

word to use, Rich, But does

5:31

Ben now look vulnerable? And you said,

5:33

I think we could see a stoppage in

5:35

a couple of rounds. And it was

5:37

almost like Tony Sims in Conor Ben's

5:39

corner heard it, and Conor Ben heard

5:41

it, and Nigel Ben heard it. Because

5:44

around later, Conor comes out and has

5:46

the best round he's had for about

5:48

four rounds. So you and I, I

5:50

think, after 10 rounds had it really

5:52

close. If not 10 -10, really tired. At

5:54

that point, what you're on about there,

5:56

Steve, he seemed to slow down and

5:58

you, back then, seemed to get the measure

6:00

of him and sort of was controlling him

6:02

with his jab and his longer range punches

6:04

and he slowed it down and I thought

6:06

I didn't think there was any way back

6:09

for Conor Ben, this was after about six

6:11

or seven rounds, I thought that Conor Ben

6:13

was slowing down and I didn't think he

6:15

was going to come back because I thought

6:17

that what I thought then was I thought

6:19

U -Bank would just dismantle him, just box

6:21

him in range. And that's what U -Bank was

6:23

doing. I don't think U -Bank was trying

6:25

to finish you. U -Bank was trying to break

6:27

him to what he was in such a

6:29

position that Conor Ben was even pulled out

6:31

by the corner, something that was running through

6:33

my mind, or the referee, Victor Lachlan, would

6:35

have no choice but to intervene. And

6:38

that was the sense. So I think

6:40

it was a good call from the

6:42

corner. They did something in that corner.

6:44

Tony Sims, he managed to... to get

6:46

to put that second wind into him

6:48

because he came out that round and

6:50

all of a sudden we knew that

6:52

he had to change things and he

6:54

did. I think we went over

6:56

after I think about eight rounds to

6:58

the corner we heard Tony because it wasn't

7:00

a great connection and what Tony said was you're

7:02

hurting him now let your hands go when

7:04

you're hurting me hurting me one shot let the

7:07

two and three go and and and even

7:09

when he did come back I got the I

7:11

got the impression that you bank himself was

7:13

quite prepared for that little bit of but he

7:15

didn't expect the second win to really last

7:17

towards the end of the fight, even if he

7:19

did lose the end of the round. Let

7:21

me just do some housekeeping as we like to

7:23

call it. All three judges

7:25

scored at 116,

7:27

112, which really

7:30

translates to, they believe

7:32

that Chris U -Bank won eight rounds,

7:34

and that Connor Ben won four rounds.

7:36

I would have had it a little

7:38

bit closer. I had it seven -five. Same

7:41

here. I had it seven -five, and I

7:43

think U -Bank overall did enough to win,

7:45

certainly with a cleaner box in. But

7:47

had it been a draw, it wouldn't have

7:49

been as counter. It wouldn't have been

7:51

as counter. No, it wouldn't have been. been

7:53

a screamer. Now before we hear we're going

7:55

to hear from a couple of boxers or we're going to hear

7:57

from in fact going to hear from all of the players involved

7:59

in the business. At

8:02

the end of the

8:04

fight U -Bank could barely speak he

8:06

had a massive gash across his right

8:08

eye which is at least an inch and

8:10

a half long it had been miraculously

8:12

closed. Connor Ben was in

8:14

his dad's arms not necessarily

8:16

crying I think just exhausted yeah

8:18

but U -Bank the emotion had

8:20

taken over The fight

8:22

had been so draining and the adrenaline

8:24

was gone. That was one

8:26

of the most, that was one of

8:29

the most awkward interviews I've heard. He could

8:31

barely speak, Rich. Barely speak. I

8:33

think Steve, the person who

8:35

was more surprised than anyone tonight was

8:37

probably Chris Eubank Jr. in the

8:39

performance of his opponent. And

8:42

he says as much. Well, he said didn't he? He

8:44

says, I didn't think he had that in him. And

8:46

I don't think many of us did either when we

8:48

knew. Conor Ben was a decent

8:50

puncher, fights at a good pace, but he's

8:52

a well to wait. Can you know?

8:54

I didn't even imagine that he would fight

8:56

at that pace. against a

8:58

middleweight. He's not even a middleweight himself.

9:00

No way, Steve. I don't think

9:02

many people could... No, I said to

9:04

you and I were freezing out there, so

9:06

we had to get one of the security

9:08

guards to take us to have a pee.

9:11

We went through 17 doors to get to

9:13

a pee. I've visited people in prison in

9:15

strange ways and only gone through nine doors.

9:17

I had 17 doors to fill a urinal

9:19

here a day. Trust me, it is easier

9:21

to get in and out of strange ways

9:23

than it is to get in and out

9:25

of the toilets at the Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham

9:28

Hotspur Stadium, it's absolutely true. I'm

9:30

being honest. Let's hear now from Chris Eubank Jr,

9:32

who was in the ring after the fight with

9:34

his father. Chris, congratulations. Two

9:37

words and those two

9:39

words are Eubank supremacy. Tell

9:41

the world what this means to you right

9:43

now. It's,

9:46

er... Rathas.

9:49

Rathas, you thank the one

9:51

above. I

9:54

knew I was capable of that. I

9:57

just needed someone to bring

9:59

me out, bring that out of me. And

10:01

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't expect that he'd be

10:03

the guy to do that. But

10:05

the fact that our

10:07

fathers did what they did

10:09

for those years ago,

10:11

it brings out a different

10:13

soul, a different spirit

10:15

into you. And that's what

10:18

we both showed here tonight. What

10:20

do you believe won you the

10:22

fight tonight, Chris, through those 12

10:24

rounds? I pushed through. There's

10:30

a lot of things I've been going on in

10:32

my life, but I'm not going to get into it

10:34

right now. I'm

10:37

happy to have this man back with me. We've

10:41

upheld the family name like we said we were

10:43

going to do. Onwards

10:46

and upwards. We weren't sure if

10:48

we'd seen your father here tonight.

10:50

How much of a lift did

10:52

it give you on a night

10:54

like this? A lot, a lot.

10:56

It was one of those things

10:58

that was... special. Special.

11:00

He needed to be here. All of

11:02

this is because of what he did. And

11:05

he just did it again,

11:07

baby. Although you said the procedure would

11:09

be parliamentary, you also said it was impossible for

11:11

it to go 12 rounds. Was there anything that

11:13

surprised you in there tonight, coming back from Conor

11:15

Ben? Three things surprised me. I didn't

11:17

know he had what he had in him. I

11:19

really didn't. I thought

11:21

I would break him early. I

11:24

underestimated him. You

11:27

know, I didn't train for a fight like that. You

11:30

know, I didn't know he had that in

11:32

him. He's never shown that. But then again,

11:34

he's never had to show it. He

11:36

had to show it tonight. And

11:38

so did I. Hang tight, Chris, because

11:40

we are going to come back to you, of course. I do want

11:42

to grab a word with your father. Chris, how

11:45

special was that? As I said to Chris, we

11:47

weren't sure if we would see you tonight. But

11:49

my obvious question is, how proud are you of

11:51

your son watching that from ringside? Listen, I

11:53

mean, he couldn't move around the ring, and

11:55

so he had to stand toe -to -toe. I

11:57

mean, that is legendary behaviour in the ring.

12:00

Legendary, and this Conor Ben, as I

12:02

said, Conor Ben is

12:05

an extraordinary fighter. You

12:07

know, he's gone pear -shaped

12:09

somewhere, but an extraordinary fighter.

12:11

And you saw that here

12:13

tonight. He wanted to tear, and

12:15

I thought he would blow out in maybe four

12:17

or five rounds. He's going,

12:19

he's going, he's going

12:21

strong. He's going strong right the

12:23

way through the fight. I am so

12:25

proud of him. That is, that's my son.

12:27

That's right. That's why I'm here. I

12:29

was always going to be here. That's

12:32

right. Fantastic. Thank you very

12:34

much. Now let's also hear

12:36

Rich from Conor Ben in a corridor

12:38

and his trainer Tony Sims was there

12:40

and it was obviously very emotional, but

12:42

I thought I had to try and

12:44

get a few words out of him.

12:47

It was emotional, was a lot. I've

12:49

always had 40 for three years. So

12:54

it was emotional for me coming back

12:56

to that sort of turnout. But

13:00

it hurts because I

13:02

don't work as hard as

13:04

I do to lose. I

13:08

just want to do better, man. But

13:11

do you realise what you put yourself

13:13

through? Do you realise what you did tonight?

13:15

Do you realise... you proved anybody wrong.

13:17

You were absolutely brilliant tonight. You just lost.

13:19

You do realise that, don't you? It's

13:21

easy for me to say, I know, but

13:23

that's the truth. You were incredible tonight. How

13:26

do you tell someone who sacrificed time with his

13:28

family? You know, my little daughter's

13:30

got two front teeth now and she crawls. You

13:33

know? Erm...

13:35

She's hard, man. Yeah,

13:37

because sacrifices, I'm not getting back. Erm...

13:41

Yeah. I

13:43

want to win. Time might

13:45

work, time might work. Time

13:49

might work. We've

13:53

let Connor go with Tony. Tony

13:55

is going to be hard for him

13:58

to get over it for a while, but

14:00

he was incredible. I know you know

14:02

what he's capable of. I didn't know either

14:04

of them were capable of what we

14:06

saw tonight in the ring, especially Connor. Like

14:10

you said, he's put a lot of

14:12

time and effort into the camp. We

14:14

was all confident, truly confident.

14:17

He was going to win the

14:19

fight and it's obviously a disappointment, but

14:22

like you say, it was

14:24

an incredible fight for the

14:26

fans. Obviously, it

14:28

was always going to be a

14:30

big leap going up to

14:32

weight divisions. I mean, he only

14:34

weighed £2 over super -weight weights,

14:36

so you know he's a

14:38

natural 147 fighter, but... I

14:40

think he showed all the

14:42

fans in the world. He's got

14:45

loads of bottle. He's

14:47

got incredible

14:49

punch resistance.

14:52

I felt like he hurt Eubank a few times in

14:54

the fight, but just couldn't get the finish. And

14:57

I feel like Eubank sort of out -experienced

14:59

him and out -manned him at the end.

15:01

I mean, he was leaning on him

15:03

on the rope and punching away, and I

15:06

felt like... a couple of them rounds, he

15:08

was doing it, I felt like that's kind

15:10

of what gave you a bank decision. Tony,

15:13

there were moments there when, you know

15:15

the crowd stood and applauded just spontaneously. The

15:17

eighth round was just incredible. I mean,

15:19

it was ridiculous. And there were moments there

15:21

when I thought Conor was in trouble,

15:23

about six or seven, and you pulled him

15:26

back, I think, at the eighth. You

15:28

said, you're hurting, and now throw the second

15:30

shot. Let your hands go, because I

15:32

think it was six or seven, you started

15:34

the measure, then Conor came back into

15:36

it. I mean, it was a relentless,

15:38

I mean, I was at the first like, you

15:40

know that. That reminded me of the first fight

15:42

between the dads. It really did. It had that

15:44

same feel and look to it, and intensity. Yeah,

15:47

and like you say, he's an incredible

15:49

fighter. Look, they've been

15:51

in the U -Bank, and we was always going

15:53

to expect that fight. But

15:56

listen, I'm

15:58

proud of what he's done tonight. He's

16:00

not in his weight division. And

16:03

also, he's been out of the ring

16:06

a long, long time, Stephen. You know,

16:08

get yourself through experience, that inactivity does

16:10

play a part in boxing. You can

16:12

spar as well as you can, but

16:14

you need to be active. And I

16:16

think through this fight, he's

16:18

still a young man, and he's still got

16:21

a lot left in him. And through this

16:23

fight, I think he'll learn a hell of

16:25

a lot. I mean, he just lost to

16:27

the number one ranked middleweight. Yeah,

16:29

by the way. By the way. And

16:31

he weighed nowhere near middleweight for the fight.

16:33

So, you know, he's got a

16:35

massive future in front of him. It's like Eddie

16:37

Irmson. Like, if he

16:39

drops down to 147, you've got

16:41

to really fancy him against all

16:43

the top contenders there because, you

16:45

know, to hurt a middleweight like

16:48

he did a few times. Repeatedly.

16:50

Yeah, you can imagine what he'll

16:52

be doing to 147 fighters. I

16:55

always wonder when fighters lose, especially when they

16:57

take it heavy. What's your plan? Will you

16:59

leave him for a few days or will

17:01

you actually get with him and get close

17:03

to him, Tom? Or have you

17:05

not thought about it yourself yet? I'm asking you

17:07

personal stuff. Yeah, of course. Well,

17:10

he said to me, he don't want to

17:12

talk about tactics. Obviously, I've got

17:14

to talk to him about it eventually. Like

17:17

you said, I'll give him a few days

17:19

and then he'll want to talk about it

17:21

anyway, do you know I mean? Because obviously

17:23

there's the rematch clause. But then

17:25

he has got options of fighting for dropping

17:27

back down to his original weight. So, you

17:30

know, we're going to see what we do

17:32

next. But I believe there's more in him. I've

17:34

seen more in him inspiring. I know he's

17:36

got much more ability, even though he's a great

17:38

fighter. I know he's got much more boxing

17:41

ability in him. you

17:44

know, I think there's a lot to come

17:46

from him and like you say, it's like

17:48

an incredible night for boxing. That

17:50

was a very emotional and drained

17:52

Conor Ben and well, you know,

17:54

an equally emotional Tony Sims. Let's

17:56

also hear Rich whilst we're running

17:58

through people that we could talk

18:00

to. Let's also hear from... I'll

18:02

tell what, Stacey was with

18:04

us at ringside. Let's hear from Stacey

18:06

who talked to Ben Shalom, because if

18:08

I'm not mistaken, I think Ben Shalom

18:10

thought the scores were a bit wide.

18:12

Here's Stacey with Ben Shalom. Goodness me,

18:15

it's not many nights that you get

18:17

to promote like this, Ben. It's even

18:19

in a long career. That was something

18:21

else. The fight itself, I think, went

18:23

beyond all of our expectations. Listen,

18:26

as Chris Euban Jr.'s promoter, I hoped it would

18:28

be a lot easier than that. I have

18:30

to say, I thought Conor Ben was superb. I

18:32

really do. I think he prepared really well

18:34

and caused a lot of problems and in the

18:37

end it came down to Will and great

18:39

indetermination and I actually think Chris won it in

18:41

those last two rounds. It had what the

18:43

best fights have that shift in momentum when you

18:45

think know that they're taking up a hand

18:47

and then they are it just went back and

18:49

forth back and forth and ultimately as you

18:51

say perhaps it did come down to that sheer

18:54

will and heart. Absolutely I think look you

18:56

asked he asked a lot of questions of Chris

18:58

and I'm sure Chris after six or seven

19:00

rounds was thinking what have I I just got

19:02

myself into. We dug deep,

19:04

he breathed and it just became an absolute

19:06

firefight and it was back and forth. Look,

19:09

was it the most technical fight in the

19:11

world? No, we didn't expect to see that.

19:13

It was an absolute brawl, both of them

19:15

back and forth and swinging from the rooftops

19:17

and in the end Chris came through as

19:19

we thought he would but what phenomenal performers

19:21

from both guys and could have gone either

19:23

way. So even Ben Chalom saying he thought

19:25

they were a bit wide, not arguing about

19:27

the result but just saying he thought they

19:29

were a bit wide. I'm

19:35

Zing Singh and I'm Simon Jack and together

19:37

we host Good Bad billionaire the podcast

19:39

exploring the lies of some of the

19:41

world's richest people in the new season We're

19:43

setting our sights on some big names. Yep

19:45

LeBron James and Martha Stewart to name just

19:48

a few and as always Simon and I

19:50

are trying to decide whether we think they're

19:52

good bad or just another billionaire that's

19:54

good bad billionaire from the BBC

19:57

world service Listen now wherever you get

19:59

your BBC podcasts We

20:05

just want to try and somehow wind it

20:07

back and if this sounds all a bit

20:09

chaotic, it's understandable. It's very, very late. We've

20:11

been outside for an awful long time and

20:13

we've just witnessed something that none of us

20:15

were prepared for. None of us

20:17

expected to see some kind of classic slug

20:19

fest. A fight that will win fight of

20:21

the year. A fight where two men push

20:23

themselves to places that they've never been and

20:25

as I said earlier in the pod, they

20:27

never even dreamed they couldn't go to. So

20:29

we're all a little bit shell shocked if

20:32

you don't mind me saying so. All a

20:34

bit amazed by what we witnessed here tonight.

20:36

Let's take it back a little bit. At

20:38

about, I don't know, two and a half, three

20:40

hours before the first bell. A

20:42

large roar went up inside the stadium.

20:44

It was mostly full, probably 60 odd

20:46

thousand in there. And we saw on

20:48

the big screens a massive black car

20:51

pull up. The door opened and out

20:53

jumped Chris Eubank senior, who of course

20:55

told me outside Buckingham Palace a couple

20:57

of weeks ago that he would not

20:59

under any circumstances be ringside. And Chris

21:01

Eubank had told me earlier this week

21:03

that last week rather that he wishes

21:05

his father would be ringside, but he

21:07

doesn't think there's any chance his father

21:09

will be ringside. The two of them.

21:11

embraced, and then the place

21:14

erupted. And then he came in

21:16

to simply the best. I could

21:18

feel myself getting emotional there. Rich,

21:20

that was off the scale. Yeah,

21:22

it was off the scale. And

21:24

it really got to me, actually. It

21:26

got to me as well. Yeah, it

21:28

got to me when, especially when the

21:30

car pulled up and you've seen Eubanks

21:33

seeing you get out of the car

21:35

and obviously he's with Eubanks Junior and

21:37

they're together because it was the biggest

21:39

roar. there tonight was when people saw

21:41

that and you know forget about the

21:43

fight it was that they were both

21:45

together again and like I say it

21:47

just brought back memories of me and

21:49

my dad and throughout my career you

21:51

see I couldn't imagine a moment without

21:53

my dad in my career and so

21:56

I know how much it meant to

21:58

Eubank Junior to have his dad there.

22:00

And I said before the fight, that's

22:02

massive that is. And some people didn't

22:04

agree with me, but I'm telling you

22:06

what Steve, that was absolutely huge in

22:08

terms of his confidence knowing that his

22:10

dad's in his corner. Well, Eubank admitted

22:12

there that Eubank Junior admitted there that

22:14

he did add something and it did

22:16

help him. Because what he'd said to

22:19

me at the start of the week

22:21

when he said, I hope my dad's

22:23

there, Steve, but I don't think he

22:25

will be. But then he also was quick

22:27

to say, but if he's there, it'll make...

22:29

difference to the outcome of the fight.

22:31

Well, I have a feeling it may

22:33

have made a difference tonight. I have a feeling, you

22:35

know that when you need the extra bit, Rich, and

22:38

this was a fight tonight where you needed the

22:40

extra bit. It may be 10 to 12 rounds.

22:42

When you had to dig a little bit deeper,

22:44

when you wanted to look out the ring, you

22:46

wanted a glance or something, when you wanted to

22:48

feel a bit of inspiration, the father came round

22:50

to the corner for the last four or five

22:52

rounds and he came round a few rounds earlier

22:54

than that. When you just want to hear somebody,

22:56

you want a little tap on your leg, catch

22:58

a glimpse of someone. If you just need a

23:00

little lift, then I have

23:02

a feeling that Chris Eubanks Sr. may

23:05

have given his son just that

23:07

little lift tonight. Could have been the

23:09

difference. Who knows? We will never

23:11

know. But the fact that

23:13

Chris acknowledged that it did

23:15

make a difference. Also great to

23:17

see Nigel and Chris embracing

23:19

Nigel. Fantastic. Embracing in the ring.

23:21

Warriors. We

23:25

not we know that

23:27

from what Chris said that

23:29

he was surprised. He

23:31

admitted that he underestimated Conor

23:33

Ben. Yes, he underestimated

23:35

Conor Ben and I

23:37

don't necessarily think added to

23:39

the fight. The fight was going

23:41

to be a terrific fight. Anyway,

23:43

it obviously turns out now because

23:45

what it was about in the

23:47

end, really, Rich, was just pride.

23:49

It was just family, ancient history

23:52

of pride. If you look at

23:54

the interviews after the fight in

23:56

the ring... The Eubanksum, they were

23:58

so, especially obviously Junior, he was

24:00

so relieved. Like a weight

24:02

had gone off his shoulders, he's got the

24:04

victory because obviously he's got so much to

24:06

live up to because of his father and

24:08

the victory that his father had over Nigel

24:10

Ben Senior. And you

24:12

know what I loved as well

24:14

though Steve? I really enjoyed and

24:16

liked the interview that Conor Ben

24:18

and Nigel gave because he was

24:20

just honest. Nigel Ben says,

24:22

yeah, okay, it was no night, but we'll just go

24:24

back to the gym. We'll go back to the drawing

24:26

board. It was so honest. It was fantastic. It was

24:28

Nigel Ben all house. We'll be stronger through it. Yeah,

24:30

he said we'll be stronger through it. And then you

24:32

could see that Conor Ben, he

24:34

was exhorting, he'd given absolutely

24:37

everything. The kid couldn't

24:39

have given him all. No. You know. Neither

24:41

of them could have. Neither of them

24:43

could have. But in many respects, It

24:45

was just as good a performance from

24:48

Ben as it was U -Bank, because

24:50

he's a naturally smaller man at the

24:52

end of the day. And deep down

24:54

before this fight, Steve, I thought it

24:56

would be a U -Bank victory, but fairly

24:58

comfortable. And I told people, because I

25:00

thought he was just too big for

25:02

him. And I never expected that. And

25:04

looked that way. Yeah. And I thought,

25:07

well, here we go. And that's what

25:09

I thought. We're going to come see

25:11

his stoppage now. And then he... performance

25:13

in, which just astonished everyone the last

25:15

year. The people that

25:17

believed that it was some

25:19

kind of circus fight, some

25:22

kind of carnival show, and that

25:24

we were not going to get

25:26

anything like we imagined. We're not

25:28

going to get anything to compare

25:30

with the meetings between the fathers

25:32

in 1990 and 1993. They

25:34

were so wide at the mark. It's

25:36

not a case of whether it was

25:38

a better fight than the first fight

25:40

between the two, U -Bank and Ben,

25:42

or if it was a better fight

25:45

than the rematch at Old Trafford between

25:47

U -Bank and Ben. It's not a case.

25:49

The point is, it can sit with

25:51

them. It was that type of fight.

25:53

And it was similar in styles, and

25:55

I really mean this. I said this

25:57

after a couple of rounds when you

25:59

and I and Fletch were talking during

26:01

the fight. It was really similar to

26:03

me. If I squinted my eyes, I

26:05

really got flat. flashbacks to that first

26:08

fight. I know you were ringside as

26:10

well. I got real flashbacks to that,

26:12

Rich. The second fight was a lot

26:14

cagier, and they both were a bit

26:16

smarter, but that first fight was just,

26:18

it was just all about hard guts

26:20

and in. Well, I've seen Conor Bent

26:22

box six or seven times now, but

26:24

that was the time, in that last

26:26

contest that I've just seen, that's the

26:28

most I've ever seen him like he's

26:31

done. the way he

26:33

fought there was exactly like Nigel,

26:35

reckless, throwing punches from all

26:37

different angles, snarling if they connect, getting

26:39

hit with a shot then just coming

26:41

back and just throwing the kitchen sink

26:43

at his opponent. Tonight

26:45

reminded me more of Nigel than any

26:47

other time that I've seen come

26:49

about. And I thought there were moments

26:51

when Chris tonight looked more and

26:53

more like his father, Chris, to be

26:55

perfectly honest with you. The

26:59

event itself was it was incredible the

27:01

crowd. I mean, I think the crowd

27:03

just couldn't believe it from the simply

27:05

the best entry we've obviously with with

27:07

you Bank senior on the stage great

27:09

for boxing steve and then the fights

27:12

up because when you let's not let's

27:14

not let's not mess around when you

27:16

have a stadium fight Inevitably some people

27:18

are going to be an awful long

27:20

way away. Okay, let's get that right,

27:22

but a fight like this tonight. Yeah

27:24

really fits for a stadium fight because

27:27

you think about the dynamic of it.

27:29

You've got two guys who are slugging

27:31

and you've got conifering massive shots in

27:33

the 75 quid seat about two and

27:35

a half miles away. That looks like

27:37

a good shot. So it's a perfect

27:40

fight for a stadium. It's a perfect

27:42

fight for an outdoor night. And Steve,

27:44

you see, that is a

27:46

fantastic, that's a great point because a

27:48

fairly decent fight in a stadium like

27:50

this can look a boring fight absolutely

27:52

because if you're miles away yeah and

27:54

it's a fairly decent fight but you

27:56

know you're looking and it's not really

27:58

no nothing's catching on and nothing then

28:01

it doesn't look that good but but

28:03

everyone was on their feet absolutely well

28:05

I think in row Z it was

28:07

miles away they were screaming shouting you

28:09

know I was trying to look up

28:11

as far as I could up into

28:13

the hazy gods that in in in

28:15

some of the seats and and You

28:17

couldn't really tell, but you could tell

28:19

people were standing. And also the standing

28:22

ovations, round eight, I think round sevens.

28:24

I think it was round eight when

28:26

they got up the first time. Gordon

28:28

Ramsay was right in front of us.

28:31

Marcus Rashford was four seats away, could nearly

28:33

touch him. Declan Rice was sitting next to

28:35

Marcus Rashford. I don't know if that means

28:37

Declan Rice is gonna be going to Aston

28:40

Villa. I don't know, a bit confused. Football's

28:42

not as hot as it used to be.

28:44

But quite seriously, Rich. There was

28:46

a spontaneous move at the end of

28:48

the eighth. And I'll stand there,

28:50

I stood up and clapped at the end

28:52

of the eighth and at the end of the

28:54

tenth. Because that was, the eighth will live

28:56

long in memory. Absolutely, yeah. So you're seeing that

28:58

then, I think you're seeing it in a

29:00

couple of the other rounds as well after that,

29:02

Steve. Most of the bridge. Where people,

29:04

literally you looked around and some people just got

29:07

up and started clapping because what they were witnessing,

29:09

it was toe to toe, non

29:12

-stop. And anything

29:14

could have happened at any time. At

29:17

one point, I thought, yes, Chris Eubanks

29:19

getting on top now with these large

29:22

jabs. And then Conor Brown, who

29:24

would bring their puns from nowhere. In

29:26

the last round, it looked like one of them

29:28

could stop the other. looked like they could both stop

29:30

each other. Absolutely. It looked like, Steve, that at

29:32

any point, one of them is going to walk onto

29:34

a shot. It's all going to be over. It

29:36

was one of those type of contests. I mean, there

29:38

was a point in the last 30 seconds of

29:40

that fight when I thought Conor was going to get

29:42

stopped. was really more than

29:44

that, he was absolutely exhausted. And almost

29:46

through Conor's legs and just underneath

29:49

Conor's arms, there was this ridiculous scene

29:51

where you got Eddie Hearn up

29:53

throwing punches in the front row, Turkey

29:55

out of shake, the man who

29:57

was the sort of promoter through Ring

29:59

Magazine of the event of this

30:02

show, the guy who's the sort of,

30:04

who's the boss, the boss man

30:06

of the whole Saudi Arabia thing. He

30:08

was up throwing punches. Nigel

30:10

Ben was throwing punches, Chris

30:12

Eubank Sr. was throwing punches,

30:14

Gordon Ramsay was ducking and throwing

30:17

punches, Declan Rice was up throwing uppercuts,

30:19

it was completely ridiculous, and that

30:21

was like in the last 10, 15

30:23

seconds. And that's that moment, Rich,

30:25

and I always talk about this. When you've

30:27

got that thing where, to me, what happens

30:29

then is a bit of rocky plays in

30:31

my mind. I start to hear rocky music.

30:35

Steve, I totally agree. It was a

30:37

rocky sort of contest because... I

30:40

really believe, Steve, that, like I said,

30:42

it could have ended at any time, from

30:44

any boxer. Either boxer could have landed

30:46

a shot where it could have been all

30:48

over. The one shot that really

30:50

made a difference, I thought, was from Conor Benny's

30:52

left hook that shook Eubank. I think it

30:54

was late on in the fight. It might have

30:56

been around eight, around nine, something like that.

30:59

I don't know. Maybe it was an eighth round

31:01

that led to the start of the course.

31:03

Yeah, it was incredible. But, you know, Eubank Jr.

31:05

recovered from it. But that was the only

31:07

time when his legs actually really, really went. But

31:10

it was a

31:12

contest, Steve, that if

31:14

it was given a draw, I don't

31:16

think no one would have known. Absolutely,

31:18

Riti. No one would have known if

31:20

it was a draw. That's a great point. I thought

31:22

overall he'd just got it by a couple of

31:24

rounds. But if that'd give a draw, you know, like

31:26

I said, yeah, fair enough, it's a draw. So,

31:29

Riti, there is a rematch clause for the fight. Immediately

31:31

after the fight, Conor

31:33

Ben talked about... it

31:36

again. Eddie Hearn

31:38

obviously said, I'm assuming Connor will want

31:40

to do it again. It

31:43

makes a lot of sense. I

31:45

mean, obviously, in theory, Connor Bennett would

31:47

have the option of dropping back

31:49

to middleweight and going somewhere there. And

31:51

they're all good fights. And as

31:53

we pointed out, the people at ringside,

31:55

they're all good fights, but they're

31:57

peanuts fights compared to... to

31:59

a rematch between these two. Because

32:02

there were 67 ,000 people in

32:04

there, Rich, and they all

32:06

sent messages and pictures to 10

32:08

people. So suddenly, by my

32:10

calculations, you've got 670 ,000 people,

32:13

who also sent the pictures of

32:15

Bill, Tom, and Julie at

32:17

the fight, like that selfie. Millions

32:20

of people tonight.

32:22

made contact and had contact with people that

32:25

were here. And they all said the same

32:27

thing. Whether they were watching a film, whether

32:29

they a cocoa in bed, or whatever else

32:31

people do in bed, or whether they were

32:33

in pubs, they all said, I'm going to

32:35

the next one. I'm going to the next

32:37

one. They did. And they said,

32:39

I'll tell you what they said. I'm definitely

32:41

going to the next one. That looks like

32:43

a spiffing fight. I'll go to the next

32:45

one. So millions, if you, and I'll do

32:47

that, I use this line quite a lot.

32:49

If you sold tickets at midnight tonight for

32:51

the next one, you'd sell 67 ,000 by about

32:53

two minutes past midnight. That's the

32:56

absolute truth. So, Rich, rematch.

32:58

But you made a point.

33:00

Yes. It's going to be a long

33:02

time. Yeah. It's going to be, in my opinion, it's going to

33:04

be a long time. This is not a rematch in three and

33:06

a half months. No. You know, I

33:08

mean, it took. No, then it

33:10

could be a Wembley Stadium rematch. Wembley Stadium

33:12

rematch. Chris U Bank senior. told

33:14

me, or I reminded him, and

33:16

then he told me, absolutely true, he

33:18

took him seven weeks to recover. He

33:21

was in and out of baths for two days. In

33:24

and out of his head was

33:26

his actual expression. Seven weeks before

33:28

he felt able to do anything

33:30

remotely normal. That was after

33:32

that fight. These two will be

33:34

the same. It will take two months

33:36

of doing nothing. Pure convalescent to

33:38

get their bodies and their heads even

33:40

in shape to enter into training.

33:42

Yes and then if you're talking about

33:44

a stadium fight then you're not

33:46

talking this year because the summer will

33:48

be gone. So it's got

33:51

to be next year, Eubank Junior will be

33:53

36. If you struggle to make the

33:55

weight this time, well actually Steve, let's

33:57

just talk about that just for a

33:59

minute because I'm convinced now he

34:01

wasn't struggling at the weight because he

34:03

wouldn't have performed like that. He

34:05

just stood toe to toe for 12

34:07

rounds. I've been trying

34:09

to say this on social media all over

34:11

weekend. It would have been faded by

34:13

six or seven at that pace. Absolutely. So

34:15

he wasn't struggling in the weight. But

34:17

I would say that it'd be 36. Yes,

34:20

it will be a little bit harder to

34:22

make the weight. But it's a stadium fight.

34:24

So forget this year. It'll be next year.

34:26

It could do Wembley Stadium. Yeah, I think

34:28

it'll sell out. You know what? It is

34:30

also, but his body will have rested. So

34:33

it'd be 36, 37, whatever it will be.

34:35

And he won't fight again until that fight.

34:37

Bingo. So he's got a year off to

34:39

get his body right to make 15 million

34:41

quid. I think we know the answer to

34:43

that. Exactly. You and

34:45

I have over the last 30

34:47

odd years whisper it. We've been ringside

34:49

at some beauties around the world. Whether

34:52

it's in Las Vegas or

34:54

somewhere in Britain or in Saudi,

34:56

we've seen some of the

34:59

greatest fights involving British boxers and

35:01

world boxers in the last

35:03

35 years. I'm not going to put

35:05

this one at the top of that list, but I'm going to put

35:07

it with them. It's added

35:09

to the list, Richie. It's added to the list,

35:11

definitely. Definitely. Yeah, it's one

35:13

that will live long in the memory,

35:15

Steve, because I didn't expect it. And

35:19

it was every round was action packed, and

35:21

you didn't know which way it was going

35:23

to go. That's what I loved about it.

35:25

And that was a, it was a classic.

35:28

So that's the story of the day

35:30

and the story of the fight.

35:32

Now, it does an inbox and it

35:34

doesn't risk. We're not back next

35:36

Saturday. We're going to be back. We

35:38

think, we hope on Monday with

35:41

a massive story. Another outdoor extravaganza. It's

35:43

relentless. We're putting a shift on

35:45

that day as well. I'm Steve

35:47

Bunce. It has been an honor

35:49

and a privilege all week. And

35:51

this is Five Live Boxing. It's

35:53

the scandal that rocked rugby union

35:55

to its core. The so -called

35:58

Bloodgate scandal. Tom Williams now receiving

36:00

attention. It so clear that this

36:02

wasn't real blood. It's out and

36:04

out, cheating. This is a

36:06

story of lies and deception, conspiracies,

36:08

and cover -ups. There was

36:10

terror that it could tear

36:13

the house down. Courtroom drama

36:15

and secret deals. So a

36:17

lie. And a human cost

36:19

that changed lives and careers

36:21

forever. Dean Richards found guilty

36:23

and banned for three years.

36:25

I'm Ross Kemp, and this

36:27

is Sports Crimes Bloodgate. Listen BBC

36:30

Sounds. I'm

36:36

Zing Singh and I'm Simon Jack and together

36:38

we host Good Bad billionaire the podcast

36:40

exploring the lies of some of the

36:42

world's richest people in the new season We're

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setting our sights on some big names. Yep

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LeBron James and Martha Stewart to name just

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a few and as always Simon and I

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are trying to decide whether we think they're

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