By A furious Conor Benn had to be held back by security after his opponent Chris Eubank Jr. smashed an egg across his face during their extraordinary boxing match face-off on Tuesday.
The pair met face-to-face on stage in Manchester ahead of their fight at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 26. Both fighters had been insulting each other throughout a heated press conference before things boiled over on stage.
Both men got closer to each other and started exchanging words during the face-off, before Eubank Jr. reached into his coat pocket and slapped Benn in the face with an egg.
Security immediately jumped in between the two fighters as Benn, with egg dripping down his face, attempted to get at Eubank Jr.
The two men were initially scheduled to take to the ring in 2022, almost exactly 30 years after their fathers had two fights that gripped a generation of boxing fans.
But the bout was canceled after it was revealed that Benn had failed a drug test.
Benn had tested positive for clomiphene, a fertility drug used by women who struggle to ovulate, but repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Then, in February 2023, the World Boxing Council (WBC) issued a statement clearing Benn of wrongdoing, stating that while his urine test indicated the presence of prohibited substances, his “highly-elevated consumption of eggs” prior to testing offered a “reasonable explanation” for his failed test.
“Apparently egg contamination was the reason for his two failed drugs tests. So I contaminated him with an egg,” Eubank Jr. wrote on X, alongside a video of the incident.
He later posted a picture of Benn with egg on his face, with the caption: “Eggcellent.”
“That’s the only shot you’ll land on me,” Benn wrote back on X, while insulting Eubank Jr. “2 rounds you are finished.”
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who is looking after Benn for the fight, says he initially thought a glass was smashed on his fighter’s face.
Hearn was also seen shoving rival promoter Ben Shalom as chaos reigned on stage. Hearn said he wasn’t convinced Shalom didn’t know about his fighter’s plans to use the egg. Shalom denies knowing anything about the incident beforehand.
The fighters are next set to meet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, and Hearn said there will need to be extra provisions to prevent Benn retaliating.
“This is attack on sight stuff,” Hearn told reporters. “As soon as (Benn) sees Eubank, he’s going to attack him.”
