Conor Benn restored some long overdue family pride at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as he dominated his rematch against Chris Eubank Jr in North London, eventually settling for a landslide points win after two final-round knockdowns in their middleweight clash.
Eubank and Benn battled it out for a second time infront of a packed stadium.
After a long family rivalry, Eubank Jr (35-4, KO25) did just enough to win their original meeting at the same stadium in April, as he ran out a clear points winner in an absorbing bout, but Benn (24-1, KO14) had his moments as they went toe to toe for what seemed like the whole contest.
It was a cat and mouse opening round, with Benn landing a nice right hand on the counter that caught the eye, and he worked well to the body in round two with Eubank slow to get into stride.
A left hand finally landed for Eubank in the third, but he looked laboured, and was allowing Benn to constantly beat him to the punch in what was a sedate start for the Brighton man.
Eubank’s legs looked stuck in the mud, and although he had small success in the fifth, he was not able to put punches together in a rhythm to trouble Benn.
Eubank surely needed a strong second half, but round seven saw more of the same, with Benn able to evade what his opponent was offering and firing back with interest.
Eubank was simply not in the fight, not able to carry out what his head was telling his fists and legs to do, and Benn continued to rack up the rounds, and going into the championship rounds, he clearly needed a knockout, which never looked like coming.
The pattern remained exactly the same, and going into the final round, it was clear what Eubank needed to do.
He was unable to find anything of note yet again, although he did try to let his hands go, but it was to no avail, and a sharp looping right hand from Benn had him down heavily in the closing minute.
Benn went for the kill on the resumption, with Eubank bundled over again, and he grimly made it to the final bell.
The result was academic, and scores of 119-107, 118-108 and 116-110 ensured Benn’s hand was raised.
Jack Catterall vs Ekow Essuman
In a controversial clash at welterweight, Jack Catterall (32-2, KO14) took out Ekow Essuman (22-2, KO8) in the penultimate round of their meeting for the WBO Global belt.
Essuman was down in the fourth round, but he rallied, only for the 11th round to see him floored by multiple punches after the referee called a break in the action.
That signalled the beginning of the end for Essuman, as a volley of punches saw him totter through the ropes, and the fight was over.
Remaining undercard
Adam Azim (14-0, KO11) wore down late-notice replacement Kurt Scoby (18-2, KO16), and took the vacant WBO Intercontinental super lightweight title with a final-round stoppage in their contest.
Scoby was deducted a point for use of the head in round seven, and eventually wilted, taking a knee on the canvas before the contest was eventually waved off.
Richard Riakporhe (19-1, KO15) didn’t hang around in continuing his heavyweight campaign, and the former cruiserweight world title challenger took the unbeaten record of Tommy Welch (16-1, KO9), who was dropped three times in the second round before being stopped.
Ishmael Davis (15-3, KO6) sprang a minor upset, as he took the vacant British super welterweight title, and also won the Commonwealth title from Sam Gilley (18-2-1, KO9).
It was a close contest, and that was reflected in the scorecards, which read 115-113 twice and 115-114 in Davis’ favour to crown him the new champion.
Flyweight hope Mikie Tallon (11-0, KO2) took a rare early win, an uppercut doing the damage as he took a fifth-round knockout win against Fezan Shahid (4-3-2, KO0).
