Chris Eubank Jr. enjoys being the shot caller after warning Conor Benn that he’ll only face his British rival when an appeal over his provisional suspension has ended.
Benn was given the green light to resume his career after being banned by the British Boxing Board of Control and UKAD over positive tests for clomiphene.
The Londoner appealed to the National Anti-Doping Panel and won. However, the BBBofC and UKAD immediately launched challenges as they believed it was the wrong decision to clear Benn.
Any conflict between bodies attempting to keep the sport clean is a bad news scenario for Benn. It makes the likeliness of him being fully vindicated up for debate.
Eubank consistently gets linked to being Benn’s first opponent once he does get his license back. However, the fighter wants to explore other options for committing to a fighter with a cloud over his career.
“He lost all his privileges when he failed those drug tests a year ago,” Eubank told Sky Sports. “I’m the A-side. I’m the shot-caller in that fight.
It will happen. The fight will happen. I can’t tell you when it will happen. He still has a lot of issues to smooth out. I have a lot of options to weigh up.”
Chris Eubank Jr. options
Despite calling out Gennadiy Golovkin as the current two-belt middleweight champion when ‘GGG’ gave up the titles a while back, Eubank can look into building towards a world championship.
Many would argue that this wouldn’t be needed, though. He has a trilogy with Liam Smith on the table once the Liverpool man is fully fit. Kell Brook is also in the mix for a move up to 160 pounds.
Promoter Eddie Hearn wants to fast-track Eubank vs Benn due to the original hold-up. Eubank is much more relaxed about the pair eventually trading blows.
“That fight doesn’t need to be rushed in any way, in my opinion,” insisted Eubank. “Conor Benn isn’t going anywhere.
“The timing has to be right. He does need to be fully acquitted of the situation he’s in. But he can’t have any appeals going on with the Board.
“He can’t have any drug agencies having him on a banned list or whatever the case may be.
“He has to be one hundred clear for that fight to go ahead. At this moment in time, he isn’t. So that’s why I can’t say when that fight will happen. But it will happen.”
