Conor Benn believes he allowed his emotions to get in the way of his performance during his loss to Chris Eubank Jr earlier this year.
The grudge match between the two rivals saw Benn suffer the first defeat of his professional career, with both boxers producing an all-out war edged by Eubank Jr.
After initial talk of the rematch taking place in September, a brief breakdown in negotiations was resolved, with Benn and Eubank Jr now set to return to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, November 15.
Reflecting on the original fight, Benn admitted that he perhaps let the occasion get to him. He told Boxing Now: “I think what went against me — and the only thing that went against me — was my emotions but that’s you versus you, so that’s something I need to work on second time around.
“It was definitely a weakness going into the fight I think, but there was a lot of emotions.
“It was my first fight back home in almost three years. I think it was more so that I did want to hurt Chris and wanted to really give the fans the fight they wanted.”
Whilst both fighters received praise for giving their all in the latest chapter of the Benn-Eubank family feud, Benn said he would be prepared to sacrifice an entertaining approach in order to secure victory in the rematch.
He added: “But sometimes you have to be selfish and go, ‘OK, maybe I need to make the fight more boring, win in a more technical fashion rather than going in there and doing what I want to do.'”
Much of the build-up to the original fight was filled with jibes and bad blood, the rivalry between their fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, taking a back seat to the hatred shared between Benn and Eubank Jr.
Eubank Jr made numerous references to Benn failing a drugs test that caused the fight to be cancelled in 2022, slapping his rival with an egg at the launch press conference for the fight.
While Benn lost the first fight, he still feels he holds the edge in several departments and will win the rematch if he keeps his emotions in check. Listing his perceived advantages over Eubank Jr, Benn said: “Reaction timings, explosiveness, fitness, endurance.
“I don’t like him. I don’t think the spite’s the same, I think I got it all out. Hopefully, I did. I’m not really too bothered about him. He done well, is a lot more stronger and was more resilient than I thought. I just let myself down, really. I can’t even look at [that version of myself]. I just look at myself and go, ‘What were you doing in there?’”
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