In a tense moment following the highly anticipated bout on Saturday night, Chris Eubank Jr chastised his promoter, Ben Shalom, for attempting to divulge the hurdles Eubank Jr faced during his training camp leading up to his fight against Conor Benn.

The match, a much-talked-about clash between two longstanding rivals, ended with Benn, 29, dominating Eubank Jr over 12 rounds. Benn’s performance was so commanding that he nearly secured a knockout, sending Eubank Jr to the canvas twice in the final round. Ultimately, Benn claimed victory decisively with a unanimous decision, the judges scoring the bout 119-107, 118-108, and 116-110.

As the fight wore on, Eubank Jr, who is seven years older than Benn, appeared increasingly fatigued and lackluster, raising questions about his preparation and conditioning.

In the aftermath of his defeat, Eubank Jr abruptly left the post-fight press conference at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This exit came as Shalom began to allude to the significant challenges Eubank Jr faced in preparing for the fight. Eubank Jr’s frustration was clear as he exited, refusing to let Shalom continue his remarks.

Addressing the press, Shalom commented, “All I want to say is what Chris went through in camp, he won’t want to talk about it but the things I saw – he did incredibly well to get in the ring tonight. And I just want to say, he’s the reason this has been so big.” Shalom’s statements hinted at the behind-the-scenes struggles that Eubank Jr overcame just to step into the ring, adding another layer to the narrative of this intense rivalry.

Benn, 29, beat his old rival Eubank Jr over 12 one-sided rounds and came close to sealing a knockout in the final stages, sending Eubank Jr to the canvas twice in the last round

Benn celebrated wildly in the ring after achieving something his two-weight world champion father Nigel never succeeded in doing – beating a Eubank – in the latest instalment of the rivalry

Shalom told the press at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: ‘All I want to say is what Chris went through in camp, he won’t want to talk about it but the things I saw – he did incredibly well to get in the ring tonight. And I just want to say, he’s the reason this has been so big.’

Eubank Jr then interjected, shouting ‘Ben’ from across the conference room, to which Shalom replied: ‘I know you don’t.’

Shalom continued: ‘Chris doesn’t way to say it but I saw what I saw and he deserves a huge amount of credit to get in there tonight. It was an unbelievable spectacle.

‘Thank you to Turki Al-Sheikh, thank you to all the media that turned out – and we’ll see what’s next.’

Before storming out, Eubank Jr had hinted that personal issues, combined with the weight cut, had caused problems during camp, and he knew from the opening round that he was facing an uphill battle in the rematch.

‘I’ve been through hell and back to make it here today,’ he said. ‘I genuinely thought that regardless of the issues that I’ve been dealing with, I would be able to go in there and win.

‘Use my boxing skills. Use what you guys saw in that first fight to beat Conor Benn. From that first round, I realised that I was mistaken, but it’s okay. I’m a fighter. This is what I do.

‘I tried my best. Conor Benn put on a hell of a fight. He had a great performance. He did everything that was asked of him, and I congratulate him for his performance.’

In the aftermath of the defeat, Eubank Jr stormed out of the press conference as his promoter Shalom began to hint at the significant difficulties he had gone through to make the fight

Eubank Jr – who was hospitalised for two days after his victory over Benn in their previous meeting in April after struggling to drop the required weight – looked in better form this time

When asked if he would consider a trilogy fight, the 36-year-old remained non-committal.

‘Right now, I’m not really in the state of mind to be thinking about next fights. I need to heal. I need to deal with what I’m dealing with and then after that I can start thinking about my path in the sport.’

Eubank Jr weighed in lighter than Benn before the fight after being fined £375k for missing the 160lbs limit by 0.05lbs in the first encounter, having had to abide by strict conditions that were inked into the contract.

The same rules applied for the rematch with Benn tipping the scales at 159.3lbs.

Eubank Jr weighed in slightly lighter at 159.1lbs and put his body through hell to achieve it. Footage of his weight cut on X showed him dripping with sweat in a sauna after effectively mummifying himself.

He wrote: ‘Ain’t no way I’m missing weight this time.’

Eubank Jr also posted a clip of him wearing a full sweat suit, roasting himself as he set to work on the exercise bike while draped in a towel and wearing a plastic hat as he attempted to shed the final pounds in time.

After the fight, Benn appeared committed to ending their rivalry for good after gaining revenge for the unanimous points defeat he had sustained seven months prior – after their fathers twice fought each other in epic world title fights in the 1990s.

Chris Eubank Jr was effectively mummifying himself to shed the last few pounds

Sweat dripped onto the floor as Eubank Jr unwrapped himself during the extreme process

He celebrated wildly in the ring after achieving something his two-weight world champion father Nigel never succeeded in doing – beating a Eubank – in the latest instalment of the bitter rivalry between the two families.

‘It’s been some journey and I feel like this is the end of the Benn-Eubank saga,’ he told DAZN. ‘It’s done and finished. It’s over. This ends here.’

Benn then said that ‘everyone was saying “can’t box” – put that in your pipe and smoke it’, before praising his opponent and their fathers.

‘This wouldn’t have been what it was without Chris and without our dads,’ he added. ‘This is generational. This is history. Credit to Chris. That’s all I’ve got to say. Not bad for two silver spoon kids.’