Chris Eubank Jr reacts to Conor Benn’s early loss against Ryan Garcia
Chris Eubank Jr was quick to react to Conor Benn’s loss to Ryan Garcia on Saturday, mocking his bitter rival after the emphatic defeat.
Benn was fighting for a world title for the first time, challenging Garcia for the WBC welterweight belt, when he suffered a second-round loss in Las Vegas.
Benn, 29, started aggressively as expected, but he walked onto a huge right hook in the second frame, as Garcia, 28, dropped the Briton badly. Benn beat the referee’s count but was quickly overwhelmed, leading the official to step in.
The result marked Benn’s second-ever loss, and his first via stoppage; in April 2025, Eubank Jr outpointed Benn, who returned the favour in November.
And Eubank Jr wasted little time in reacting to Benn’s loss, tweeting: “Welcome to the ’fighting after cutting too much weight’ club… Enjoy.”
Eubank Jr was referencing the fact that Benn was fighting at welterweight for the first time in two-and-a-half years, with the “Destroyer” having boxed Eubank Jr up at middleweight in their two bouts, before outpointing Regis Prograis at a 150lb catchweight in April.
Eubank Jr, 36, was also referencing his own complaints about facing Benn at middleweight, having repeatedly claimed that super-middleweight is his preferred division at this stage of his career.
A trilogy bout between Benn and Eubank could well be next, with Benn surely likely to leave welterweight behind him for good.
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Should Eubank Jr and Benn clash again, their rivalry would eclipse their fathers’ in a sense; Nigel Benn and Eubank Sr fought each other twice in the 1990s, with Eubank Sr winning the first bout before the second ended as a draw.
Eubank Jr and Conor Benn were first set to square off in 2022, but the fight was thwarted by the revelation that Benn had failed two drug tests. He maintained his innocence but was provisionally suspended from fighting in the UK, before being cleared to do so in 2024.
Meanwhile, Garcia navigated his own drug-test controversy from 2024 to 2025. The American failed a drug test that resulted in a one-year ban, despite his own claims that he was innocent.
