Plans to stage Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn on December 23 in the United Kingdom have taken a hammer blow from Tyson Fury.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had repeatedly mentioned the date for a grudge match between the two rivals. The Matchroom boss had even been citing venues.
Hearn named the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and other UK arenas while considering taking the fight overseas.
But those plans are in the trash. Fury plowing ahead with an undisputed heavyweight battle with Oleksandr Usyk on the same night means Eubank Jr vs. Benn needs rearrangement.
It would be career suicide for Hearn to attempt to go up against the most significant top-division battle in two decades.
The garrotting news of Eubank Jr. vs Benn comes at a crucial time. Fury’s manager, Spencer Brown, confirmed the Usyk clash is one hundred percent penciled in for the day before Christmas Eve.
Fury vs Usyk date reconfirmed
Asked about Eubank Jr. vs Benn on the same night as Fury vs Usyk, Brown told Boxing King Media: “That’s a great fight. It’s a good warmup fight [for Fury vs Usyk],
“We’re looking at a generational fight [first undisputed battle since Lennox Lewis vs Evander Holyfield] here. It’s a fight that hasn’t happened in 20 years. It’s not going to happen again in properly another 20 years if it happens at all again.”
On working with Frank Warren and Bob Arum to get Fury vs Usyk over the line, Brown added: “It’s so difficult for this to happen. It’s a minefield. You need certain ingredients to bake the cake here.
“Any of these big promoters here. You only have to ask Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn, any of these big English promoters, or the foreign promoters. You need all the ingredients, especially Bob Arum.
“Bob Arum has been doing this forever, and so has Frank. You can say what you want. Eddie Hearn is a marvelous promoter. He’s brought English boxing back from the doldrums, so they’ve all had their parts to play in it, and at the moment, for me, Frank Warren is doing a stellar job and George’s son.
“They’re doing a great job.”
Fury vs Usyk’s quick turnaround
Fury vs Usyk is scheduled to occur 56 days after “The Gypsy King” battles Francis Ngannou during the Riyadh Season this weekend. That gives both champions an eight-week camp with very little break – if any – in between for Fury.
It’s a headscratcher why that date is nailed on so much due to the short turnaround. The only explanation can be that the Saudi Arabian investors putting up the money have given the calendar mark as a stipulation for the event to take place.
Whatever happens on Saturday night in the Ngannou fight, Fury cannot afford to get cut or suffer any injury, or the Usyk fight will be off.
Maybe a more significant headscratcher is the fact Fury is still going through with the Ngannou fight at all, knowing what he could lose with the slightest ailment transpiring.
