Fathers face off and Hearn holds up ‘fake news’ cards at Benn-Eubank showdown

Chris Eubank Sr made a surprise appearance at Thursday’s press conference and almost restarted his rivalry with Nigel Benn after calling his old adversary a liar.

Two days out from Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn sharing the ring for a second time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they were upstaged by their boxing royalty fathers at The Pelligon in Canary Wharf.

An accusation by Nigel Benn on talkSPORT this week that Eubank Sr was paid to make a dramatic arrival at the first bout in April produced a fiery penultimate media event of fight week as the old British rivals from the 1990s threatened to trade blows again.

Chris Eubank Jr firstly called out “bare-faced lies” about his father being paid to turn up for the first fight before Eubank Sr urged Benn to reveal who told him that lie.

Later when the sons took part in a face-off, the elder statesmen briefly exchanged words before it ended with a light-hearted handshake along with a picture for the ages of the four fighters together before Saturday’s rematch.

Eubank Sr started: “I am here to support, just in case there are those who want to bark or scold him. I guess I am here to actually protect him.

“You can’t pay me anything. I am here for heart, love and remember what I have lived by right the way through my career.

“I don’t boast, I am not proud, I am not rude, I am not self-seeking and I am not easily angered, Nigel. And I keep a record of wrongs. That is why I continuously win.

“So, whoever told Nigel that I was paid whatever sum of money, they lied to you, and in you actually spouting what they’ve told you makes you the liar.

“So, expose who told you that lie in order to actually clean your name because, otherwise, who in the future is going to believe you or anything you say?

“I speak and walk truth, nothing but, and that is the only way you become a true entertainer that lasts. Yeah, so to that I will say Rastafari.”

Nigel Benn, who was stopped in the ninth round of a classic encounter with Eubank Sr in 1990 before a draw followed in the rematch three years later, attempted to get the focus back on the two sons.

“How do I feel? Water running down my back. Nothing. It is not about me, it is about my son and Chris Jr. I am not even really paying attention to what he says. It is all gobbledygook,” former two-weight world champion Benn insisted.

However, Eubank Sr cut off his old rival to shout “do not spread lies about me”, which provoked Conor Benn to joke the pair should face-off.

Suddenly, the fire burned bright and in scenes reminiscent of 1990, Nigel Benn responded: “I don’t mind having a face-off, all day long!”

Eventually order was restored before Eubank Jr and Conor Benn exchanged words over the hotly-debated rehydration clause.

Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn had produced a comical moment earlier in the press conference as he countered Eubank Jr’s attempts to silence him, as had been the case in September, by holding up place cards with writing on.

“He’s up here with clipboards, smiling like an idiot because he’s too scared to talk,” Eubank Jr quipped.

The final word was meant to go to Eubank Jr, who uttered his trademark “the procedure will be parliamentary” before Benn chimed in with “Rastafari”, but the endearing image of the fathers and sons together helped whet the appetite ahead of Friday’s weigh-in at York Hall.