Conor Benn roars to rampant win over lethargic Chris Eubank Jr to claim family’s first win in 35-year feud – as ferocious final round saves bitter rematch from anti-climax

After 35 years of strife between the two families, a man named Benn finally found a way to defeat Eubank. That this is the dullest encounter of the genre will not matter in the slightest to the man who succeeds where his father twice failed.

And so, when the job was done, Conor Benn climbed to the top rope at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and roared like a maniac without having to wait for the formalities of the scorecards; Such was the resounding nature of his revenge on Chris Eubank Jr.

The old man triumphed by unanimous decision in a wild, hard-fought fight in April, while the youngsters equalized their individual rivalry with speed and control 203 days later.

Although the official scores of 119-107, 116-110, 118-108 in Benn’s favor reflected the nature of the night, they concealed some surprises. It was primarily about how Nigel was able to confine his son’s aggression and emotions to a functional area, but also how flat the fight was against the chaos of the former.

If it weren’t for the fire and fury of the final round, when Benn dropped Eubank twice, we’d be questioning whether more money should have been spent on such a stalemate. We’d still hand over the purses for a non-title fight, with Eubank Jr. pocketing an estimated £10 million and Benn pocketing £8 million.

But at least there was some bang for the buck, and probably some closure as well, in the rivalry that goes to extreme lengths to get fights between men of different weight categories.

The pair went the full distance again but Benn emerged as the clear winner, claiming the first victory for his family in the 35-year fight.

Eubank Jr.’s seniority showed and he lost twice in the final round due to fatigue.

Regarding the latter, Eubank Jr may eventually offer elaborate excuses for his extremely lethargic performance. And some may even hold true when considering rehydration provisions that limit the ability to recover from a grueling weight cut to reach the 160-pound limit.

But it’s more likely that his age (he’s 36 and the oldest is seven) has caught up with him. He looked slow, old, and well beaten; over two generations the family increased its score to 2.5-1.5.

Benn was happy to see that this was the last dance between them. He said: ‘It’s been a journey and this is the end of the Eubank-Benn saga. ‘Anyone who says they can’t box should put this in their pipe and smoke it.’

It would be a mistake to sell this as a boxing masterclass, but this was an impressive dismantling of the opponent. There were also some conciliatory words for Eubank, with Benn adding: ‘Listen, this is an intergenerational event, it’s never been done before, so credit Chris. Thank you for sharing the ring with me. ‘Not bad for two silver spoon boys.’

Eubank, on the other hand, talked about the difficulties of creating the weight. He said: ‘I’ve been through hell and back to get to this night. Whatever. I tried so hard. He fought hard and hard, and he has strength. ‘I don’t know how he did it.’

That last sentence may be open to different interpretations, given the stories about Benn failing drug tests ahead of the first fight.

But this one had no such drama in its build-up. Indeed, there were a significant number of empty seats before the first bell, a sign that the novelty was beginning to fade. Without the benefit of a scandal to emerge, or even the mystery of whether Eubank Snr would be present, the excitement of what had become nothing more than a money grab for all concerned was greatly diminished.

On that front, there was still sufficient demand for the use of this large stadium for home games. Moreover, the fact that there were more than 55,000 participants on a rainy night in November is not something to be underestimated.

Eubank Jr. Although he seemed more open to it, Benn gave up hope of a trilogy fight

He roared emphatically after his victory, which was actually supposed to be the end of this rivalry.

But it is understood 2,000 tickets were gifted to local taxi drivers by Saudi overlords and seats, which originally cost £100, were being sold on secondary markets for as little as £28 by the morning of the fight.

Eubank Jr promised an ‘a**-fight’ for those present, whose notables included Thierry Henry, Rod Stewart and Pierce Brosnan, and said it would be ‘the challenger’s fight of the decade’.

He didn’t and he wasn’t.

Benn showed extra aggression as expected, but the number of snags we saw in April have diminished. Instead of hunting with haymakers, he preferred to punch, repeatedly using below waist level diving maneuvers to pull the tall man down.

Did it work? It was enough to make the early rounds, but just enough to avoid causing damage. Other than a few moderate right hands to the chin and body, Eubank seemed happy with this arrangement, but why? Was it planned to weaken Benn’s power? Or is it the inability to make aging fists fly towards a moving target?

Either way, he left himself a lot of room to make up on the cards. By the halfway point, it was hard to argue that Eubank had won a single round, except for the third round when he finally landed a few decent shots.

The rest was a reliable pattern of slow jabs into the cold, followed immediately by a more accurate retaliation from Benn. He was too fast and too young for Eubank.

This was highlighted in the seventh round when there finally was a moment of legitimate excitement. Eubank had landed a powerful blow, but as he stepped forward to follow up, he threw his head back, absorbing a left from Benn followed by a much harder right. Benn leaned forward and laughed in his face.

Thierry Henry, Steven Bartlett and Tony Bellew were among the celebrities present

The eighth saw an improvement from Eubank; one hit Benn straight across the cheek, but that only heralded further disappointment. A knockout in the 12th round settled things once and for all, with Benn’s right hands dropping Eubank to the canvas.

With them, he hoped to put an end to the rivalry that had once been exciting but had been allowed to continue for too long.