Billy Joe Saunders was denied entry to Chris Eubank Junior's dressing room as a huge row erupted and Conor Benn's 'mind games' backfired ahead of their fight
Billy Joe Saunders was denied entry to Chris Eubank Junior's dressing room as chaos erupted with a huge row backstage at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The British boxer, 35, was due to inspect the hand wrapping of Eubank Jr ahead of his clash with Conor Benn but was not allowed in to check his wraps.
Conor Benn, 28, planned the stunt in a bid to get into his rival's head, given Saunders' win over Eubank Jr, 35, earlier in their careers. But his plan backfired as Saunders rowed with Eubank Jr's manager after being refused entry.
A member of a boxer’s team is allowed into the opponent’s dressing room when they are wrapping their hands to ensure they are done within the rules.
But Saunders is not a British Boxing Board of Control licence holder so Eubank Jr's team did not have to let him in.
Chris Eubank Jr had insisted Saunders - who beat him in 2014 and been involved in plenty of verbal spats with ‘Next Gen’ - inspecting his hand wraps wouldn't unsettle him.
Speaking this week, he said: "You can't unsettle me. I'm ice cold. Would I be alright with it? I mean, obviously, I would prefer him not to be there, but if he does it's not gonna affect anything, you know, it's not like he's gonna be talking to me.
"He'll be in his little corner, watching and I'll get my hands wrapped and then he'll get out of the room. It makes zero difference."
Earlier in the evening, Chris Eubank Senior sent fans wild by turning up with his son. The iconic fighter, 58, whose fights with Conor Benn's dad Nigel Benn in the 1990s are the stuff of boxing legend, had seemingly become estranged from his child.
He even went as far as to say he wanted his son's boxing licence revoked ahead of the bout. Eubank Sr had branded his son a "disgrace" and vowed never to be in his corner again after he slapped an egg off Benn’s cheek at a press conference. He then implored the British Boxing Board of Control to stop the fight over fears at what weight the bout was happening at.
But at 8.15pm on Saturday his father emerged, smiling as he got out of a large car and then his son came around the other side and they were arm in arm as they walked into the arena. The crowd in North London erupted into rapturous cheers as footage of the pair arriving together was played on big screens in the stadium.
- Neil Docking
No comments:
Post a Comment