By Brian Webber: Chris Eubank Jr’s natural size advantage will ultimately prove to be too much for Conor Benn on October 8th, according to George Groves.
He feels that welterweight Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) is facing an uphill battle taking on the bigger & more experienced Eubank Jr. (32-2, 23 KOs) in their fight on DAZN PPV at the O2 Arena in London.
The 25-year-old Benn’s lack of experience is even more of a handicap than his lack of size, as he’s been coddled by his promoter Eddie Hearn throughout his career.
Hearn has made no moves to put Benn in with quality contenders at 147 and has been content to match him against faded old veterans with no power that wasn’t a threat to beating him.
With no experience against contenders at 147, it suggests that Benn will be out of his league against Eubank Jr, and fans will witness a massacre on October 8th.
“I think size matters. We learned that recently, with [Saul Canelo] Alvarez, who moved up to light heavyweight [to fight Dmitry Bivol], and is now back down,” said George Groves to Boxing UK when asked to give his thoughts on the October 8th fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn.
“I think Conor Benn is not only giving away experience and a few other attributes. He’s giving away a lot of natural size. He’s got a massive uphill battle. Never say never. I’ve been keeping an eye on his camp. It looks like he’s been performing brilliantly.
“It might be a shot, but I can’t see how size doesn’t win that fight,” said Groves in picking Eubank Jr to defeat Benn.
“I think Eubank Jr is just too big. I really like Conor Benn,” Carl Frampton said to Pro Boxing Fans. “He’s in a win-win situation. If he loses the fight, he can say, ‘I was too small in the fight.’
“I think that’s going to be the case. I think he’s determined and really game to try his best to win. I just think size is going to be the issue. You have to give Conor Benn a lot of credit for the improvements he’s made in the last couple of years.
“It’s just a step too far for him at this stage. I think Eubank’s size will be the key,” said Frampton.
