Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn rematch is "crazy", says boxing expert

Chris Eubank Jr. put his health in jeopardy in last fight, McRae told William Hill

Boxing journalist and author Donald McRae has told the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025’s podcast, William Hill Sports Book Club, that he does not think Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn should participate in a rematch, given their difference in size and the health implications caused by their last bout.

Speaking on William Hill Sports Book Club, the talkSPORT2 radio show which delves into some of the year’s most exceptional sports books in contention for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025, McRae said: “I’m not in favour of the Eubank-Benn rematch. When I spoke to Chris Eubank Jr. six days prior to the bout in April, he was really battling to cut weight, he didn’t look well. I did get sucked into the hype again when Eubank Sr. rocked up, I was caught up in it. I still don’t believe that there was that much skill in that fight, but I really got lost in it – it was a proper battle.

“Despite my initial thoughts on that fight, I came out thinking how great a bout it was. For me, I felt like I was in a pub car park with haymakers flying between the two. It was low on skill but huge in heart and fortitude. I had to admire Conor Benn’s guts but I don’t think the rematch should happen. The difference in size between the two just means someone has to do something crazy, in the last case it was Eubank who put his health in jeopardy by losing so much weight.”

McRae recounted an interview he conducted with Benn in 2022, prior to the scheduled fight with Eubank Jr. being postponed due to Benn’s positive drug tests.

He said: “The first interview I did with Conor Benn in 2022 really showed me the highs and lows of boxing. It was just before he was about to fight Chris Eubank Jr. for the first time and was the last interview he did before that fight which was a week later. Throughout the interview it seemed as though he didn’t want to talk and as soon as I asked him what ‘home’ meant to him, that word opened up so many emotions for him, the tears started tumbling down his face.

“I left that interview thinking about how moving it was which really surprised me. It went up on social media the following day and there were plenty of plaudits for Conor for speaking so candidly and then the following day I found out he’d failed a drugs test. My feeling immediately changed, on the one hand I was pleased that someone had been found out for taking an illegal substance and it showed up on the tests, but I was disappointed because I had been suckered into the Benn vs Eubank Jr. hype, it was a difficult moment in boxing.”

Donald McRae joined the William Hill Sports Book Club to discuss his book ‘The Last Bell: Life, Death and Boxing’, which has been entered into this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025.

Watch previous episodes of William Hill’s Sports Book Club here.