“The noise the way it shattered was like a glass,” Eddie Hearn told DAZN, having been on stage when Chris Eubank Jnr used his left hand to push an egg into the face of his rival Conor Benn at the press conference to announce their fight.
Hearn, who promotes Benn, was targeted by Eubank Jnr at the press conference. The promoter was continuously told to be quiet by the opposing fighter, but it was at the end when Eubank Jnr made his move on his opponent.
“The presser, Eubank, quite amusing,” Hearn said. “At the end, bitch move. You’ve come on the stage, with an egg… I thought it was a glass. The noise and the way it shattered was like a glass.
“Not being funny, listen – all I’m saying now, all bets are off. If you bump into Nigel Benn in the next 10 minutes, watch yourself.”
Nigel Benn had been on stage with his son, while Eubank was flanked by Jonathan Banks and Ronnie Davies.
“The thing is with Eubank, everything is premeditated,” added Hearn.
“The game’s the game; the fight’s the fight. What I’m saying now is all bets are off. Anything goes. You’ve gone to that level. It’s on sight.
“In the world we live in today, it’s gonna go viral. People are going to find it hilarious. Yeah, I get it. All I’m saying is five minutes ago, everything changed.
“This fight was massive. This has gone to another level. This fight is going to sell out quicker than you ever imagined.”
Hearn said that the fight would now likely become a Nigel Benn-Iran Barkley-type shootout, which the roughhouse Benn famously won in a wild single round.
“Forget a game plan; forget a strategy; he’s coming in with speed and ferocity to iron out Eubank in three rounds,” said Hearn.
The egg was symbolic. As Eubank Jnr mentioned throughout the press conference, Benn had previously failed drugs tests before their first scheduled date in 2022 for the banned substance clomifene, and the WBC said that an increased consumption of eggs could have been to blame. Benn has consistently maintained his innocence.
Benn and Eubank are due to go head-to-head in the London leg of their press tour on Thursday. Tuesday’s was in Manchester, England. They fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the capital on April 26.
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