Chris Eubank Jr has claimed he was the victim of a set up after a recent encounter with Conor Benn at the Sport Industry Awards on Saturday night.
The sons of British boxing legends Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn have long been linked with a crossover fight that would easily break the box office, despite the fact they are two weight classes apart right now.
He revealed he was about to present the 'Young Agency of the Year' award, which was won by The Space Between agency, when he bumped into Benn backstage.
However, he immediately knew something was up, as he insisted that there was no way their meeting could have taken place simply by accident.
Eubank told iFL TV: “Yeah, we had a little chat.
“I think they set it up, someone sneakily set it up.
“Unbelievable that we were both backstage, both presenting awards at the exact same time.
“And that sports awards, whoever manages that, they’re lucky that I’m not an idiot.
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn bumped into each other at the Sport Industry Awards
“And they don’t know I’m not an idiot, and they don’t know he’s not an idiot.”
Eubank also revealed his concerns that things could have gotten out of hand pretty quickly had they not handled things like mature responsible adults, and accused Benn of being 'a hothead'.
He added: “I mean, he is a hothead.
“If I say something silly, he’s gonna, you know, but I’m not an idiot.
“If I’m pushed, yeah [I could react], but I’m not gonna push anybody. I’m not gonna push anybody for no reason – for clout or for an Instagram video.
“It could’ve easily kicked off at the awards show, right before we were about to walk on stage.”
Asked if he could reveal the details of their conversation, he replied: “Nothing, he came over to me, shook my hand.
“He asked me about the Canelo fight, it was small talk.
“He was talking to someone else for a second and I was thinking about all the stuff that’s been said over the past couple of months and I started laughing.
“He said, ‘What are you smirking about?’
“I said, ‘Listen, me and you can make a lot of money in the future.’ He said on the fight that he comes in 20lbs heavier than what he weighs in at.
“He was basically trying to say that he could physically fight, the weight difference wouldn’t be an issue.”
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