Promoter Kalle Sauerland has said there is no truth to the speculation that the fight between Conor Benn and his client, Chris Eubank Jr, is close.
Benn-Eubank was originally slated for October last year, but after two adverse findings in Benn’s dope tests, the fight was eventually scrapped. Rumours emerged, however, that it could happen in Abu Dhabi on June 3 this year and Eubank was one of three opponents in the running to face Benn, along with Kell Brook and Manny Pacquiao.
The WBC has reinstalled Benn in their rankings and it is likely any governing body in the Middle East would welcome Benn with open arms but Sauerland told Seconds Out: “There’s no deal. There’s no contract. We’ve had a flirt. It’s a fight that has a certain magnitude, which is obviously very very big, but that’s really all there is to say on it. There’s a lot of clickbaits going around these days… I can categorically confirm that no writings have been exchanged, no contracts have been exchanged.”
Brook met promoter Eddie Hearn at Matchroom’s HQ today, posting an Instagram story saying, “Thanks Eddie Hearn that’s all I needed to hear” and Sauerland made it clear that they are trying to arrange the Liam Smith rematch for Eubank as a priority.
“Liam Smith is the No. 1 choice because he’s the first choice we went for,” Sauerland said. “We are trying to make that work, but when you talk about Benn, is it the next fight or the fight after? Those are things we will see very quickly whether they materialise or not, but at the same time we are working on a contract to fight Liam Smith right now.”
Asked whether the Benn fight was bigger now than when it was scheduled first time around, Sauerland said both the Smith and Benn fights were bigger the second time.
“I think the Liam Smith fight is bigger and the Conor Benn fight is now a monster simply on the basis that people are going to be curious whatever reason,” Sauerland said.
