By Brian Webber: A badly emaciated-looking Chris Eubank Jr posted a photo of himself today after his weight cut for what would have been the secondary weigh-in for his rehydration clause for his canceled/postponed fight with Conor Benn.
Eubank Jr looked sickly after weighing in at 159.3 lbs, which some assume to be near the rehydration clause weight. If 160 were the weight that Eubank Jr had to come in at for the rehydration clause, it would have been a disaster.
Eubank Jr looked in no condition to rehydrate and fight tonight if the bout were still on. If the fight with Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) is going to be rescheduled, Eubank Jr needs to ensure that a catchweight and rehydration clause isn’t part of the deal.
Benn tested positive for the banned substance clomifene in a VADA test, and subsequently, the fight was postponed by his promoter Eddie Hearn after the British Boxing Board of Control chose not to sanction the contest.
As of yet, Benn hasn’t explained how clomifene, which is a women’s fertility drug, got into his system.
Workout done. Time to put the lbs back on. pic.twitter.com/jgXrIZpJfz
— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) October 8, 2022
“Yeah, I think it happens again,” said Paulie Malignaggi to iFL TV about Conor Benn using again. “I would think that in a normal world that there would be some kind of suspension, and then they’ll try to make the fight later on.
“This just shows how far we’ve sunk. They spent 24 hours trying to figure out how to put the [Eubank Jr vs. Benn] fight on when the right thing to do would have been to cancel it.
“They’ll probably do the fight later. Now, they’ll have eggs on their face for trying to keep the fight on. None of it sits right with me. It’s boxing, what are you going to do?
“Boxing is the wild west, so you can’t predict what they’ll do. It wouldn’t shock me if they tried again.
They [the promoters] took it so seriously that they spent the first 24 hours after the guy failed, trying to figure out a way to put the show on, as opposed to canceling it right away. That’s how seriously they took it.
“Once they realized there was no way they could put it on, it would be a slap in the face; they finally bowed their heads and gave in and said, ‘Okay, we’ll have to cancel it.’ There was too much backlash and pressure.
“If there were any way they possibly could have done this show, they would have disrespected everything that stands for any sanctity. Not that boxing cares about that kind of stuff. It would have been kind of awful.
“In the rare times that a boxer is caught, they should at least try to pretend that they care. I know they don’t care when they don’t catch people. That’s why testing is so horrible and so weak. I just feel the testing is there because it would look so bad if there were no testing.
“I get the feeling that all these promoters and agencies only put out this testing because it’s a sort of washing their hands sort of thing to make it look and give the appearance that they’re trying to keep the sport clean. In reality, they hope to God that they don’t fail.
“They know everybody is on something. But at least when somebody does fail, they should do the decency to do the right thing and just outright cancel it.
“You’ve got people more interested in money than anything else. That takes precedence over everything. I’ve never seen someone that got caught admit outright, ‘You got me. I made a mistake.’ Has anybody ever done that? No, it’s always, ‘I didn’t know what I was taking. It was an accident.’
“I’ve yet to find somebody that got caught and basically said, ‘Yeah, you know what? I cheated. I tried to gain an advantage, and I’m wrong.’ You never see that. Apparently, every time, it’s always an accident.
“Although this one is a really interesting accident because it’s a women’s fertility drug. I don’t know how you’d end up with a women’s fertility drug in your system unless you were purposely taking it because it has testosterone-like effects to it.
“Maybe Conor Benn does some kinky things on the side that we don’t know about. That’s the only way you can defend taking this one on accident. This one is a tough one to say you took on accident, but I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to say it.
“I don’t think it would have been financially an option because you still have to sell pay-per-views,” said Malignaggi when asked if there would have been a possibility of finding another opponent for Eubank Jr to fight in place of Benn to keep the show on for tonight.
“It’s pay-per-view in the UK. They would have had to cancel it and cut your losses, and that’s what you do. You postpone it until later. I’m sure there’s supposed to be a suspension, but knowing how boxing is, I’m sure it’ll be a slap on the wrist, and then they’ll get right back on it and reschedule the fight.
“They don’t want to,” said Malignaggi when asked how do we get rid of fighters using PEDs. “It’s better to have a guy be on the pound-for-pound list for two decades straight like Manny Pacquiao was. That’s better.
“People fall for that; they love that. Why would you eradicate it because then you’ll never see that again? It’s better to see guys winning titles in five or six weight classes because you otherwise wouldn’t see that kind of thing if you kept everybody clean.
“It’s better. People don’t care; fans don’t care. They’d rather see guys winning titles in a million weight classes and have a 20-year prime. That’s better. The numbers tell you that for yourself.
“Those guys sell the highest amount of pay-per-views. Those guys are the most popular fighters. It’s better. There’s no way you’re going to eradicate this because you need this in order for the business to continue.
“They’ve dumbed down the fanbase into a very dumb fanbase that supports this, and then the promoters love the money too much that comes from all the sales that come from fighters doing this kind of thing because you won’t get those amazing records unless you don’t eradicate this.
“No, I don’t think you’ll eradicate this. I don’t think there will even be an effort. They’ll pretend to. They’ll go through a few days of patting themselves on the back by saying the right thing or a couple of Tweets with a virtue signal.
“That’ll always come in handy. A few virtue-signaling Tweets so that people can pat you on the back and give you the hand-clapping emoji. You might get a couple of those. Ultimately, absolutely nothing will be done. I think this fight will probably happen later on,” said Malignaggi about the Eubank Jr vs. Benn fight.
