Wade reacts to Chris Eubank Jr. beating Conor Benn in one of the best fights we've seen in a LONG time. #Volume
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, folks, So it is just mere hours after
(00:04):
quite frankly, the best fight I may have ever seen
in my life. Chris Ubank Junior versus Connor Ben in
the main event of Tottenham Hot Spurs Stadium's first Spring
Magazine event, Fatal Fury. It has come to London and
these two put the family bloodline rivalry on their backs
(00:26):
and they carried it to a whole new level.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This fight was insane.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Like I said, it's probably the best fight I've ever seen,
at least one of the best fights I've ever seen,
and it left a legacy, a history in their third
and I say third because the fathers got their two
sons now have their one, and there's a lot of
things that could potentially happen next. Chris you Bank is
the victor and to him goes the spoils. There were
other fights on this card, and we're gonna break the
(00:53):
entire thing down.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
What just happened. Chris Eubank Junior defeats.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Connor Ben by this decision and once again the greatest
fights and moments I have.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Ever been a part of the breakdown. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Before we got to that, we had other fights to
get to I'll be very short. I thought Chris BILLM.
Smith looked very good in the opening fight versus Brandon Lanton.
I thought it was a nice back and forth fight.
But Bill Smith, he is tough, he's savvy, and he
was able to gut out a big time decision victory
in the opening ball. I didn't see much there that
made me think that a rematch with Zorto would be
(01:29):
anything different than what we saw, or that he's ready
to take on another challenge for a belts at that level.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So I'm not.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Really sure again what you do with Chris BILLM. Smith,
but I know the man that won in the next
fight could absolutely give him a run for his money.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
That's right, let's go to it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Vidalal Riley versus chev Clark for the British title, and
this was a masterclass from Vidal Riley. It was the
art of hitting and not getting hit. There were moments, yes,
where chev had some success and he sat down on
some punches and Vidal took some you could say unnecessary risks,
or you could say some calculators risks where he planted
his feet and threw with a big time puncher that
chev Clark is. But after the first maybe thirty seconds
(02:05):
to forty five seconds, it was very abundantly clear when
the dow.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Riley is on his jab and when he's.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Using his fee is a very, very tough man to
beat at cruiserweight, and he outboxed chev in every single
round I felt of this fight. Now were the rounds
that could have been swing rounds and gone to Chev.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Uh, And maybe there is a little bit of bias
because Videl Riley is one of my good good friends
and I just want to see so much happen for
him in this sport because I see the work he
puts in and I don't like using the word deserves,
but I think he has earned the right to be
called that British champion. I think there's so much more
he even has to offer. I don't think he's even
hit his potential ceiling yet. But again, if you wanted
(02:43):
to go that route and give now that next step up,
that next big test, I don't know that Chris billim
Smith would be super keen on it, but it I'll
just be a world ranked cruiserweight, multiple different sanctioning bodies
and Chris BILLM Smith looking to get back to a
title that may just be the fight to set up
and to remind you guys that I did beat Chris
Billim Smith the amateur ring, except we had Liam Smith
and Aaron McKenna, And holy shit, why didn't anyone tell
(03:06):
me Aaron McKenna was that guy? He went into this
fight thinking Liam Smith veteran dog taking on a newcomer
that's unproven. We've talked about how sometimes experience at the
top level only means something when you are successfully experiencing
those fights. And William Smith, obviously after the lost to
Chris you Bank Junior in the second bout, coming.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Back to really show that he still hasn't.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That even you know, in his thirties now and with
all the experience he has, he can still go at
the top level. And I'm going to tell you something,
Liam Smith did not look as bad as he looked
in the Chris you Bank two fights. But he ran
into a young, hungry fighter that is highly skilled, far
more skilled than I thought he was, and it possessed
the dog inside to bang it out when he needs
to pause. Aaron McKenna absolutely dog walk Liam Smith and
(03:50):
I and I don't mean that disrespectfully in any way,
shape or form.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It's just what happened. We're talking clean sweep status here.
In my opinion, I.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Don't I don't remember the official scorecards, but I didn't
see a round maybe outside of one or at some point.
I'm pretty sure I was in the restroom because I
had to saying we had to relieve after sitting there
for a while during the watch party. But watching that live,
I did not see one round that I thought Liam
Smith won in. And then you had Anthony Yard versus
Lynn and Arthur, a good back and forth fight. Listen,
this was a trilogy bout, so both guys were already
(04:18):
familiar with each other coming off the fourth round stoppage
and the last one. This felt far more personal to
both fighters. For Lynn and Arthur proving that that last
fight was not who he was and that he would
be able to turn the tide of this. And he
had a good fight, just not a great one because
on the other side, Anthony Yard ran away with this
fight toward the end of the fight. But it was
(04:38):
a good back and forth up until the end. Another
decision win here, But I thought Anthony Yard was explosive,
highly explosive. At the beginning of the fight. I thought
that tailed down as the fight went on, and listen,
he still got crazy power in his hands. He's still
a guy that one punch can change a fight.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Absolutely. He showed me he's.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Worth watching anytime he puts the gloves on, it steps
in and I wanted to get those I don't want
to say out of the way. I wanted to cover
those fights because I felt they deserved the coverage that
they got on the night and after, because this card
I thought top to bottom was a great match making a
fantastic build, and I thought they all delivered.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I know people were a.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Little upset with a lot of decisions, but that's what
happens when you have high level fighters against each other.
You're not going to see many stoppages. But after that
co main event, the energy in Tottenham Stadium, you started
to kind of peek. Where we were sitting was kind
of up in a in a you know, a skybox,
and I kind of started to peek over my shoulder,
and every time I did, I saw more and more
and more and more people flooding into this stadium. It
(05:35):
was something out of a movie. Because started to build
that anticipation, they showed Connor Ben walking into the venue,
Chris Eubank Junior walking into the venue, and myself and
Trujjority were, you know, coming up with crazy conspiracy theories
as to what potentially was going to happen in the
relationship between senior and junior and Connor Ben weighing one
sixty five after rehydration and Chris Eubank Junior missing weight
(05:55):
and then coming in under the weight check, and we're
talking about our predictions how we both had Connor Ben
by knockout that did not come to fruition. You guys
could let me know about it in the comments.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And then all of.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
A sudden, the thing you least expected, or at least
the thing I least expected, have talking about something monotonous,
maybe just making some jokes, who knows, and we both
turned to the TV. They show Connor Ben walking and
they show Chris you Bank Junior getting out of a car,
and then they slide the van door of the same
car and sitting in that seat is Chris Eubank Senior.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
He showed up for his son.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
There was no roof on Tottenham Stadium tonight, but if
they'd had one on, they might as well have put
some dynamite to it because it would have absolutely come unglued,
the people lost their minds.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
It was something out of a movie. It was cinema
and on.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
It was because throughout the entrances from both fighters, Connor
Benn coming into the ring with Nigel, and you could
tell he felt the moment right, something that he had
never experienced, something that Chris you Bank Junior had never experienced.
But for Connor Ben, nothing anywhere close, No fights that
would be deemed a big fight necessarily Connor Ben on
(07:06):
this level and you could tell that that moment he
was feeling. How did he get the best of him?
Was he able to control it?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Those things we can.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Go back and forth about, especially how Connor Ben started
the fight, but I thought it was huge. On the
other side of things, probably one of the most emotional
walkouts you'll ever see. Chris Hugh Banks Junior and senior
walk out together and both play their respective songs and
still Dre comes on and you're seeing Junior. You can
call it gamesmanship because he took so long to get
to the ring, but I just call it being in
(07:34):
the moment where I thought Connor felt the moment, maybe
the pressure, engulfing energy that was flowing throughout Tottenham Stadium.
I felt Chris you Bank Junior absorbed, and you saw
him almost crying from the emotion that he wanted to
pour out in the importance of this moment. And so
as he got to the ring, he just couldn't believe
it was finally.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
About to happen. They were both in the ring.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Nothing could stop it now, and sure enough it was
all gas, no break from the first bell. Now, listen,
it's gonna be hard for me to recollect every single
round in my memory and try to score this thing
in a way that's like super technically correct, because we're
four hours after the event is over, and I'm gonna
give you the bullet points of what I remember. I
do remember Chris Eubank Junior as the fight started, immediately
(08:18):
established his jet And as simple as that sounds, it
really is the punch that will take you around the world.
Because for the first half of this fight, Chris Eubank
was almost predominantly on his jet. It was very, very successful.
But on the other side, Connor Ben started a little erratic,
He started a little wild, a lot of I would
usually say controlled but uncontrolled chaos. He was winging big shots,
(08:40):
and he was throwing everything in the kitchen sink behind it.
I mean there was no touch shots, there was no
setup shots. He was throwing everything to hurt Chris with
right hands, left hooks, and some of those shots getting through,
and I think maybe even I don't know if it
was the first or second round, he clipped Chris with
a nasty right hand and it wasn't one of those
where he started to stumble and bumble, but it definitely
(09:02):
caught his attention and it popped his eyes up to say,
oh my goodness, Okay, I may have underestimated this guy
they called the Welter win. That'll be a theme we'll
come back to. Because Chris you Bank Junior tonight was
in for the fight of his life. I won't even
say luckily for him. I'll say because he was so prepared,
the fight of his life is exactly what he got,
and he brought it back. So yeah, the first couple
of rounds, I thought, Chris you Bank Junior did his thing.
(09:23):
I thought there were close rounds. When I look back
on him, it'll be hard to score. This was a
back and forth fight. Then I started to throw scorecards
out the window for because I was just enthralled by
watching the two stylistic matchups of Chris Hubank Junior on
his jab and looking early to be very technically sound,
not take too many risks, and then Connor Ben swinging
for the bleacher. The shots that Connor beIN at points
(09:45):
hit Chris you Bank Junior with in this fight and
Chris Ubank Junior eight were unbelievable. It might have been
a will of God that he was able to stay
on his feet, especially for this left hook, and Connor
swarmed him but couldn't get him out of there.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
And that was a big.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Part of this fight as well, is that Connor would
have moments, but Chris Ubank Junior would have consistency and
then in some rounds and especially toward the end when
he really started rolling, he would have bigger moments where
Connor would land one big right hand. Here came Chris
Eubank Junior with the upper cut body shots right hand
left took. Both fighters were wabbling each other who saw
(10:19):
a pace that was absolutely insane started by Connor Ben
at the beginning of the fight, and as the fight
went on a consistent level rising from Chris Eubank Junior.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
He threw.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I think the stat was over nine hundred and thirty
punches and landed forty percent of that, Ladies and gentlemen,
is an equivalent to a round eighty to eighty five,
depending on what the number was punches per round.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
In some of those rounds he was landing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Thirty to forty power punch and it wasn't just him,
both guys going back and forth.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Again.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
There were moments for Connor Ben he rocked Chris. I
want to say it was the third round, maybe the
fourth had him on stilts, couldn't finish him. Chris got
his win back. They're both talking shit to each other.
It's a classic gutter war and it's playing out in
front of our eyes. I'm looking at Jordie, I'm looking
at the camera crew, I'm looking at my chat you
guys online, and we're all in agreeance that this was
becoming one of the greatest fights in modern history in
(11:11):
front of our eyes. And I'm not exaggerating when I
say it.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
This is a blood feud.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
This was neither man saying die, and just when you
thought the fight was leaning one way, it would turn
back the other. And eventually what prevailed in these.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Back and forth.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Was the fact that Chris Hubank jun was better with
his vaults, better with his head position and head level,
was better with his angle fighting, and knew.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
When Connor bin was done punching. There were so many
times where Connor Binn was.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So stuck on his jab right hand jab, right hand jazz.
There wasn't much unpredictability in what he was doing. And
even when he landed the big shot, because he was
expending so much energy to get to rage to land
the big one, or rolling the head movement or feinting
with everything he had, his body was starting to feel
that way. It was starting to feel that extra ten
(12:00):
pounds or fifteen pounds that he was fighting up this
time around, and it slowed down his output very badly.
And coincidentally, on the other side, Chris you Bank Junior
didn't look the fastest that we've ever seen him. It
didn't probably look the best technically that we've ever seen him,
but he looked like a man possessed in there. He
looked like a boxer that had fire in his belly. Again,
these weren't the last two performances. Even in wins Let alone,
(12:22):
the loss to Liam Smith or you could go back
through his career at some of his biggest fights and
some of the disappointments he's had. This felt like a
riding of all of those wrongs, the riding of all
those times where maybe he could have given more, maybe
he fights a little differently and he won those fights.
Tonight felt like the culmination of all of those struggles
into one fight to turn the tide completely. And like
(12:44):
I said, that's what he did. As the fight got
on to the middle rounds and into later rounds, Chris
you Bank decided to kind of change what he was doing.
He went from sticking with his jab and looking for
counter shots on connor Ben or looking to lead with
his combinations and get back to his jab, to forget
the technique.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
It's about heart, and he started to use his bigger frame.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
And try to drive his forehead into the chest of
connor Ben and walk directly forward into that fire, into
a place where connor Ben had tagged him with shot
after shot and his face looked like he had been
stung by a thousand bees. By the way, I think
there is confirmation that Chris Eubank Junior's jaw is broken.
So all prayers to him obviously, we want him to
(13:26):
be healthy and heal, and what a warrior to go
through that with a broken John. I'm pretty sure it
happened early in the fight because he was taking nasty punches,
But the change in strategy changed the trajectory of this
fight because him walking forward shut down a lot of
Connor Ben's big looping punches. They would go over the
top and Ben wasn't able to frame and get back
to where he could throw those big lunging shots, or
(13:47):
that he could open up wide with hooks and overhand.
He's kept overthrowing them, and he was also being pushed
straight back just by the sheer force and weight of
Chris Eubank Junior and the punches to the body. Again,
you can call a ring rust, you can make excuses,
but it just looked like Connor Benn was being overwhelmed
by the pressure by the pace, and he was being
(14:07):
driven straight back into the ropes and leaning back with
his back on the ropes, where if he pivoted out
and almost let Chris fall into those ropes, he'd had
a far better chance at landing a big time shot.
Because both fighters' legs were gone, it was not a
question again of technique anymore, it was all heart.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Who was going to be able.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
To survive this hellacious pace and who's going to take
it to the next level when both guys are tired,
when you want to quit, who is going to take
that next step and say I'm not done yet. Turns
out it was both guys, and that's what made this
fight such a legendary back and forth because they both
gave it everything. They both left it in there. They
both were warriors on the night, but Chris Hubank Junior
(14:48):
stood above because of his tenacity, or, as seniors said
in the post fight speech, the tenacity. Both men left
it all in, but only one. He did so in
spite of the weight cut, which, okay, sure he makes
one sixty this time. He made it before he signed
the contract. We're not complaining. But he does make the
(15:08):
weight check and keeps himself under one hundred and seventy
pound and a rehydration clause that I think is quite frankly,
just one of the worst practices in all the combasketball.
There's a glove controversy right before the fight. Conor Bin
gets to wear the horse hair gloves. I don't know
what was going on. With that, but add that on
to the plate, add on the personal issues going into tonight.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I mean the eleventh.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Hour, all week, all month, the last two months, three months,
however long this fight one year, two years that Chris
Ubank Junior has been dealing with the loss of communication
with his father, a man that is a legend to
him and everybody else in the United Kingdom. Only to
have his father come back and the night he needed
him most and give him that spiritual boost.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Maybe that was it.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Maybe that's what took him over the top, not thinking
that the U Bank name solely rested on his shoulders,
and maybe it did. But regardless, if you want or lost,
he'd have Senior there. Chris you Bank Junior won this
fight on a unanimous one sixteen one to twelve judges scorecards.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Some people said that was too big a margin.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Some people I saw Eddie Hearn and Connor Ben stating
that I don't think it was too big a margin.
I mean, sure, you can argue one fifteen, one thirteen. Honestly,
you could argue one seventeen, one eleven. Again, that doesn't
mean those rounds that you could give Chris or Connor
weren't closed there were a couple of good toss up
rounds then, but regardless, I thought the right man won.
I thought Chris was unequivocally the winner of this fight.
(16:28):
Does that mean I didn't think Connor Ben had a
good fight. No, I was so impressed with him in
this fight. I was impressed with his heart, his determination,
his ability to come back after losing a round or
when things went tough for him, he didn't just quit,
or he didn't shy away from trying to get back
in the fire and get that fight. So, once again,
I don't think I'm overstating this when I say it
was one of, if not the best fight I have
(16:50):
ever seen, which leads.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Into the next thing. What happens next?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Do they do the remat Eddie Hearn has come out
and said they already have stipulations in the contract for Remax.
Chris you Bank Junior. Obviously he didn't speak too much
on that because he won. He is the winner. He
is the one that carried the family name. He brings
the pride of the u Banks back home and makes
his father proud. So yeah, and also he had to
go to the hospital because of the broken jaw. We're
(17:14):
probably gonna hear more as he heals up. Connor Ben,
obviously very disappointed in his performance, blames himself and takes
the responsibility of things that he can do better again.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I thought was a very grown up and mature Connor
Benn in the.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Fight after, because you never know how fighters are going
to handle loss, and I thought he did a really
good job at taking responsibility.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
But he even said he doesn't know.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
If the rematches next day, he goes back down to
one forty seven and called out Mario Barrios. Yes, please,
I'll watch that fight seven times a week and twice
on Sunday. Honestly, I think both guys should heal up
because this was a war. I don't want to see
either of them jumping into anything super quick. But at
the end of the day, this is what we wanted.
The hype was real and it was fulfilled.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
By the fight. Most times you see that the hype
doesn't live up.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Tonight, it absolutely did, and it gave us so many
great moments. The fight, yes, but the bringing back together
and Senior, that moment after the fight where Senior is
congratulating Connor Benn and Nigel is congratulating Chris Ubanks, Junior
and all four are in the ring, and only those
four people know what this rivalry means and what each
chapter means to each one of them. They have this
(18:15):
bond that none of us will ever understand, but we
know from the outside looking in that it's got to
be special that they're connected for life. And now the
Suns themselves, Junior and Connor Benn, have their own bond,
have their own respect, have their own moment to know
that they're the only two people in the world that
created that. So congrats to them and to the fathers
and to everybody in the families that have let this
(18:39):
and allowed this rivalry to live on and we get
to live vicariously through it. Thank you to the Ring
Magazine for allowing me to be out here in person
and seeing that Turkey Ala shaik, to my co host
True Jordy as my brother man, and we had so
much fun doing this. There will be a fight Week
flog for you guys coming out. I want you to
stay tuned for that and some other stuff we're doing.
(18:59):
But that's it for me. What a night of fights.
Congratulations to Chris, you Bank, Junior, and all the winners
on the card. And it is Sunday at two fifty
six a m. Here in London, and I've got to
get on a plane in about seven hours, so I'm
gonna pack up, try to get a fraction of sleep.
I'll see you guys in New York City this week
because the Fatal Fury Card moves to NYC. The Trilogy
(19:23):
Night three fights Ryan Garcia, Roly Romero, Devin Haney, Jose
Ramirez and Tiafimo Lopez versus Arto Barbosa. I'm of the
brightest stars in the sport of boxing take center stage
in Times Square this week and I will see you
guys there. So as we leave off, what did you
guys think about the fight, about the event, about the
(19:43):
moment that was Chris you Bank Junior versus Connor Band
And what happens when we touched down in New York.
I don't have those answers, but I guess we'll find out.
All right, folks, So it is just mere hours after
(00:04):
quite frankly, the best fight I may have ever seen
in my life. Chris Ubank Junior versus Connor Ben in
the main event of Tottenham Hot Spurs Stadium's first Spring
Magazine event, Fatal Fury. It has come to London and
these two put the family bloodline rivalry on their backs
(00:26):
and they carried it to a whole new level.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This fight was insane.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Like I said, it's probably the best fight I've ever seen,
at least one of the best fights I've ever seen,
and it left a legacy, a history in their third
and I say third because the fathers got their two
sons now have their one, and there's a lot of
things that could potentially happen next. Chris you Bank is
the victor and to him goes the spoils. There were
other fights on this card, and we're gonna break the
(00:53):
entire thing down.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
What just happened. Chris Eubank Junior defeats.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Connor Ben by this decision and once again the greatest
fights and moments I have.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Ever been a part of the breakdown. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Before we got to that, we had other fights to
get to I'll be very short. I thought Chris BILLM.
Smith looked very good in the opening fight versus Brandon Lanton.
I thought it was a nice back and forth fight.
But Bill Smith, he is tough, he's savvy, and he
was able to gut out a big time decision victory
in the opening ball. I didn't see much there that
made me think that a rematch with Zorto would be
(01:29):
anything different than what we saw, or that he's ready
to take on another challenge for a belts at that level.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So I'm not.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Really sure again what you do with Chris BILLM. Smith,
but I know the man that won in the next
fight could absolutely give him a run for his money.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
That's right, let's go to it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Vidalal Riley versus chev Clark for the British title, and
this was a masterclass from Vidal Riley. It was the
art of hitting and not getting hit. There were moments, yes,
where chev had some success and he sat down on
some punches and Vidal took some you could say unnecessary risks,
or you could say some calculators risks where he planted
his feet and threw with a big time puncher that
chev Clark is. But after the first maybe thirty seconds
(02:05):
to forty five seconds, it was very abundantly clear when
the dow.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Riley is on his jab and when he's.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Using his fee is a very, very tough man to
beat at cruiserweight, and he outboxed chev in every single
round I felt of this fight. Now were the rounds
that could have been swing rounds and gone to Chev.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Uh, And maybe there is a little bit of bias
because Videl Riley is one of my good good friends
and I just want to see so much happen for
him in this sport because I see the work he
puts in and I don't like using the word deserves,
but I think he has earned the right to be
called that British champion. I think there's so much more
he even has to offer. I don't think he's even
hit his potential ceiling yet. But again, if you wanted
(02:43):
to go that route and give now that next step up,
that next big test, I don't know that Chris billim
Smith would be super keen on it, but it I'll
just be a world ranked cruiserweight, multiple different sanctioning bodies
and Chris BILLM Smith looking to get back to a
title that may just be the fight to set up
and to remind you guys that I did beat Chris
Billim Smith the amateur ring, except we had Liam Smith
and Aaron McKenna, And holy shit, why didn't anyone tell
(03:06):
me Aaron McKenna was that guy? He went into this
fight thinking Liam Smith veteran dog taking on a newcomer
that's unproven. We've talked about how sometimes experience at the
top level only means something when you are successfully experiencing
those fights. And William Smith, obviously after the lost to
Chris you Bank Junior in the second bout, coming.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Back to really show that he still hasn't.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That even you know, in his thirties now and with
all the experience he has, he can still go at
the top level. And I'm going to tell you something,
Liam Smith did not look as bad as he looked
in the Chris you Bank two fights. But he ran
into a young, hungry fighter that is highly skilled, far
more skilled than I thought he was, and it possessed
the dog inside to bang it out when he needs
to pause. Aaron McKenna absolutely dog walk Liam Smith and
(03:50):
I and I don't mean that disrespectfully in any way,
shape or form.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It's just what happened. We're talking clean sweep status here.
In my opinion, I.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Don't I don't remember the official scorecards, but I didn't
see a round maybe outside of one or at some point.
I'm pretty sure I was in the restroom because I
had to saying we had to relieve after sitting there
for a while during the watch party. But watching that live,
I did not see one round that I thought Liam
Smith won in. And then you had Anthony Yard versus
Lynn and Arthur, a good back and forth fight. Listen,
this was a trilogy bout, so both guys were already
(04:18):
familiar with each other coming off the fourth round stoppage
and the last one. This felt far more personal to
both fighters. For Lynn and Arthur proving that that last
fight was not who he was and that he would
be able to turn the tide of this. And he
had a good fight, just not a great one because
on the other side, Anthony Yard ran away with this
fight toward the end of the fight. But it was
(04:38):
a good back and forth up until the end. Another
decision win here, But I thought Anthony Yard was explosive,
highly explosive. At the beginning of the fight. I thought
that tailed down as the fight went on, and listen,
he still got crazy power in his hands. He's still
a guy that one punch can change a fight.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Absolutely. He showed me he's.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Worth watching anytime he puts the gloves on, it steps
in and I wanted to get those I don't want
to say out of the way. I wanted to cover
those fights because I felt they deserved the coverage that
they got on the night and after, because this card
I thought top to bottom was a great match making a
fantastic build, and I thought they all delivered.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I know people were a.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Little upset with a lot of decisions, but that's what
happens when you have high level fighters against each other.
You're not going to see many stoppages. But after that
co main event, the energy in Tottenham Stadium, you started
to kind of peek. Where we were sitting was kind
of up in a in a you know, a skybox,
and I kind of started to peek over my shoulder,
and every time I did, I saw more and more
and more and more people flooding into this stadium. It
(05:35):
was something out of a movie. Because started to build
that anticipation, they showed Connor Ben walking into the venue,
Chris Eubank Junior walking into the venue, and myself and
Trujjority were, you know, coming up with crazy conspiracy theories
as to what potentially was going to happen in the
relationship between senior and junior and Connor Ben weighing one
sixty five after rehydration and Chris Eubank Junior missing weight
(05:55):
and then coming in under the weight check, and we're
talking about our predictions how we both had Connor Ben
by knockout that did not come to fruition. You guys
could let me know about it in the comments.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And then all of.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
A sudden, the thing you least expected, or at least
the thing I least expected, have talking about something monotonous,
maybe just making some jokes, who knows, and we both
turned to the TV. They show Connor Ben walking and
they show Chris you Bank Junior getting out of a car,
and then they slide the van door of the same
car and sitting in that seat is Chris Eubank Senior.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
He showed up for his son.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
There was no roof on Tottenham Stadium tonight, but if
they'd had one on, they might as well have put
some dynamite to it because it would have absolutely come unglued,
the people lost their minds.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
It was something out of a movie. It was cinema
and on.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
It was because throughout the entrances from both fighters, Connor
Benn coming into the ring with Nigel, and you could
tell he felt the moment right, something that he had
never experienced, something that Chris you Bank Junior had never experienced.
But for Connor Ben, nothing anywhere close, No fights that
would be deemed a big fight necessarily Connor Ben on
(07:06):
this level and you could tell that that moment he
was feeling. How did he get the best of him?
Was he able to control it?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Those things we can.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Go back and forth about, especially how Connor Ben started
the fight, but I thought it was huge. On the
other side of things, probably one of the most emotional
walkouts you'll ever see. Chris Hugh Banks Junior and senior
walk out together and both play their respective songs and
still Dre comes on and you're seeing Junior. You can
call it gamesmanship because he took so long to get
to the ring, but I just call it being in
(07:34):
the moment where I thought Connor felt the moment, maybe
the pressure, engulfing energy that was flowing throughout Tottenham Stadium.
I felt Chris you Bank Junior absorbed, and you saw
him almost crying from the emotion that he wanted to
pour out in the importance of this moment. And so
as he got to the ring, he just couldn't believe
it was finally.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
About to happen. They were both in the ring.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Nothing could stop it now, and sure enough it was
all gas, no break from the first bell. Now, listen,
it's gonna be hard for me to recollect every single
round in my memory and try to score this thing
in a way that's like super technically correct, because we're
four hours after the event is over, and I'm gonna
give you the bullet points of what I remember. I
do remember Chris Eubank Junior as the fight started, immediately
(08:18):
established his jet And as simple as that sounds, it
really is the punch that will take you around the world.
Because for the first half of this fight, Chris Eubank
was almost predominantly on his jet. It was very, very successful.
But on the other side, Connor Ben started a little erratic,
He started a little wild, a lot of I would
usually say controlled but uncontrolled chaos. He was winging big shots,
(08:40):
and he was throwing everything in the kitchen sink behind it.
I mean there was no touch shots, there was no
setup shots. He was throwing everything to hurt Chris with
right hands, left hooks, and some of those shots getting through,
and I think maybe even I don't know if it
was the first or second round, he clipped Chris with
a nasty right hand and it wasn't one of those
where he started to stumble and bumble, but it definitely
(09:02):
caught his attention and it popped his eyes up to say,
oh my goodness, Okay, I may have underestimated this guy
they called the Welter win. That'll be a theme we'll
come back to. Because Chris you Bank Junior tonight was
in for the fight of his life. I won't even
say luckily for him. I'll say because he was so prepared,
the fight of his life is exactly what he got,
and he brought it back. So yeah, the first couple
of rounds, I thought, Chris you Bank Junior did his thing.
(09:23):
I thought there were close rounds. When I look back
on him, it'll be hard to score. This was a
back and forth fight. Then I started to throw scorecards
out the window for because I was just enthralled by
watching the two stylistic matchups of Chris Hubank Junior on
his jab and looking early to be very technically sound,
not take too many risks, and then Connor Ben swinging
for the bleacher. The shots that Connor beIN at points
(09:45):
hit Chris you Bank Junior with in this fight and
Chris Ubank Junior eight were unbelievable. It might have been
a will of God that he was able to stay
on his feet, especially for this left hook, and Connor
swarmed him but couldn't get him out of there.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
And that was a big.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Part of this fight as well, is that Connor would
have moments, but Chris Ubank Junior would have consistency and
then in some rounds and especially toward the end when
he really started rolling, he would have bigger moments where
Connor would land one big right hand. Here came Chris
Eubank Junior with the upper cut body shots right hand
left took. Both fighters were wabbling each other who saw
(10:19):
a pace that was absolutely insane started by Connor Ben
at the beginning of the fight, and as the fight
went on a consistent level rising from Chris Eubank Junior.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
He threw.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I think the stat was over nine hundred and thirty
punches and landed forty percent of that, Ladies and gentlemen,
is an equivalent to a round eighty to eighty five,
depending on what the number was punches per round.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
In some of those rounds he was landing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Thirty to forty power punch and it wasn't just him,
both guys going back and forth.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Again.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
There were moments for Connor Ben he rocked Chris. I
want to say it was the third round, maybe the
fourth had him on stilts, couldn't finish him. Chris got
his win back. They're both talking shit to each other.
It's a classic gutter war and it's playing out in
front of our eyes. I'm looking at Jordie, I'm looking
at the camera crew, I'm looking at my chat you
guys online, and we're all in agreeance that this was
becoming one of the greatest fights in modern history in
(11:11):
front of our eyes. And I'm not exaggerating when I
say it.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
This is a blood feud.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
This was neither man saying die, and just when you
thought the fight was leaning one way, it would turn
back the other. And eventually what prevailed in these.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Back and forth.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Was the fact that Chris Hubank jun was better with
his vaults, better with his head position and head level,
was better with his angle fighting, and knew.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
When Connor bin was done punching. There were so many
times where Connor Binn was.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So stuck on his jab right hand jab, right hand jazz.
There wasn't much unpredictability in what he was doing. And
even when he landed the big shot, because he was
expending so much energy to get to rage to land
the big one, or rolling the head movement or feinting
with everything he had, his body was starting to feel
that way. It was starting to feel that extra ten
(12:00):
pounds or fifteen pounds that he was fighting up this
time around, and it slowed down his output very badly.
And coincidentally, on the other side, Chris you Bank Junior
didn't look the fastest that we've ever seen him. It
didn't probably look the best technically that we've ever seen him,
but he looked like a man possessed in there. He
looked like a boxer that had fire in his belly. Again,
these weren't the last two performances. Even in wins Let alone,
(12:22):
the loss to Liam Smith or you could go back
through his career at some of his biggest fights and
some of the disappointments he's had. This felt like a
riding of all of those wrongs, the riding of all
those times where maybe he could have given more, maybe
he fights a little differently and he won those fights.
Tonight felt like the culmination of all of those struggles
into one fight to turn the tide completely. And like
(12:44):
I said, that's what he did. As the fight got
on to the middle rounds and into later rounds, Chris
you Bank decided to kind of change what he was doing.
He went from sticking with his jab and looking for
counter shots on connor Ben or looking to lead with
his combinations and get back to his jab, to forget
the technique.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
It's about heart, and he started to use his bigger frame.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
And try to drive his forehead into the chest of
connor Ben and walk directly forward into that fire, into
a place where connor Ben had tagged him with shot
after shot and his face looked like he had been
stung by a thousand bees. By the way, I think
there is confirmation that Chris Eubank Junior's jaw is broken.
So all prayers to him obviously, we want him to
(13:26):
be healthy and heal, and what a warrior to go
through that with a broken John. I'm pretty sure it
happened early in the fight because he was taking nasty punches,
But the change in strategy changed the trajectory of this
fight because him walking forward shut down a lot of
Connor Ben's big looping punches. They would go over the
top and Ben wasn't able to frame and get back
to where he could throw those big lunging shots, or
(13:47):
that he could open up wide with hooks and overhand.
He's kept overthrowing them, and he was also being pushed
straight back just by the sheer force and weight of
Chris Eubank Junior and the punches to the body. Again,
you can call a ring rust, you can make excuses,
but it just looked like Connor Benn was being overwhelmed
by the pressure by the pace, and he was being
(14:07):
driven straight back into the ropes and leaning back with
his back on the ropes, where if he pivoted out
and almost let Chris fall into those ropes, he'd had
a far better chance at landing a big time shot.
Because both fighters' legs were gone, it was not a
question again of technique anymore, it was all heart.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Who was going to be able.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
To survive this hellacious pace and who's going to take
it to the next level when both guys are tired,
when you want to quit, who is going to take
that next step and say I'm not done yet. Turns
out it was both guys, and that's what made this
fight such a legendary back and forth because they both
gave it everything. They both left it in there. They
both were warriors on the night, but Chris Hubank Junior
(14:48):
stood above because of his tenacity, or, as seniors said
in the post fight speech, the tenacity. Both men left
it all in, but only one. He did so in
spite of the weight cut, which, okay, sure he makes
one sixty this time. He made it before he signed
the contract. We're not complaining. But he does make the
(15:08):
weight check and keeps himself under one hundred and seventy
pound and a rehydration clause that I think is quite frankly,
just one of the worst practices in all the combasketball.
There's a glove controversy right before the fight. Conor Bin
gets to wear the horse hair gloves. I don't know
what was going on. With that, but add that on
to the plate, add on the personal issues going into tonight.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I mean the eleventh.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Hour, all week, all month, the last two months, three months,
however long this fight one year, two years that Chris
Ubank Junior has been dealing with the loss of communication
with his father, a man that is a legend to
him and everybody else in the United Kingdom. Only to
have his father come back and the night he needed
him most and give him that spiritual boost.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Maybe that was it.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Maybe that's what took him over the top, not thinking
that the U Bank name solely rested on his shoulders,
and maybe it did. But regardless, if you want or lost,
he'd have Senior there. Chris you Bank Junior won this
fight on a unanimous one sixteen one to twelve judges scorecards.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Some people said that was too big a margin.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Some people I saw Eddie Hearn and Connor Ben stating
that I don't think it was too big a margin.
I mean, sure, you can argue one fifteen, one thirteen. Honestly,
you could argue one seventeen, one eleven. Again, that doesn't
mean those rounds that you could give Chris or Connor
weren't closed there were a couple of good toss up
rounds then, but regardless, I thought the right man won.
I thought Chris was unequivocally the winner of this fight.
(16:28):
Does that mean I didn't think Connor Ben had a
good fight. No, I was so impressed with him in
this fight. I was impressed with his heart, his determination,
his ability to come back after losing a round or
when things went tough for him, he didn't just quit,
or he didn't shy away from trying to get back
in the fire and get that fight. So, once again,
I don't think I'm overstating this when I say it
was one of, if not the best fight I have
(16:50):
ever seen, which leads.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Into the next thing. What happens next?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Do they do the remat Eddie Hearn has come out
and said they already have stipulations in the contract for Remax.
Chris you Bank Junior. Obviously he didn't speak too much
on that because he won. He is the winner. He
is the one that carried the family name. He brings
the pride of the u Banks back home and makes
his father proud. So yeah, and also he had to
go to the hospital because of the broken jaw. We're
(17:14):
probably gonna hear more as he heals up. Connor Ben,
obviously very disappointed in his performance, blames himself and takes
the responsibility of things that he can do better again.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I thought was a very grown up and mature Connor
Benn in the.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Fight after, because you never know how fighters are going
to handle loss, and I thought he did a really
good job at taking responsibility.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
But he even said he doesn't know.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
If the rematches next day, he goes back down to
one forty seven and called out Mario Barrios. Yes, please,
I'll watch that fight seven times a week and twice
on Sunday. Honestly, I think both guys should heal up
because this was a war. I don't want to see
either of them jumping into anything super quick. But at
the end of the day, this is what we wanted.
The hype was real and it was fulfilled.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
By the fight. Most times you see that the hype
doesn't live up.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Tonight, it absolutely did, and it gave us so many
great moments. The fight, yes, but the bringing back together
and Senior, that moment after the fight where Senior is
congratulating Connor Benn and Nigel is congratulating Chris Ubanks, Junior
and all four are in the ring, and only those
four people know what this rivalry means and what each
chapter means to each one of them. They have this
(18:15):
bond that none of us will ever understand, but we
know from the outside looking in that it's got to
be special that they're connected for life. And now the
Suns themselves, Junior and Connor Benn, have their own bond,
have their own respect, have their own moment to know
that they're the only two people in the world that
created that. So congrats to them and to the fathers
and to everybody in the families that have let this
(18:39):
and allowed this rivalry to live on and we get
to live vicariously through it. Thank you to the Ring
Magazine for allowing me to be out here in person
and seeing that Turkey Ala shaik, to my co host
True Jordy as my brother man, and we had so
much fun doing this. There will be a fight Week
flog for you guys coming out. I want you to
stay tuned for that and some other stuff we're doing.
(18:59):
But that's it for me. What a night of fights.
Congratulations to Chris, you Bank, Junior, and all the winners
on the card. And it is Sunday at two fifty
six a m. Here in London, and I've got to
get on a plane in about seven hours, so I'm
gonna pack up, try to get a fraction of sleep.
I'll see you guys in New York City this week
because the Fatal Fury Card moves to NYC. The Trilogy
(19:23):
Night three fights Ryan Garcia, Roly Romero, Devin Haney, Jose
Ramirez and Tiafimo Lopez versus Arto Barbosa. I'm of the
brightest stars in the sport of boxing take center stage
in Times Square this week and I will see you
guys there. So as we leave off, what did you
guys think about the fight, about the event, about the
(19:43):
moment that was Chris you Bank Junior versus Connor Band
And what happens when we touched down in New York.
I don't have those answers, but I guess we'll find out.
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