Ricky Hatton MBE reveals to Boxing Social the match made him ‘kneel down’ and devoted himself to this sport – and today it is especially relevant.
In fact, it was only due to a question about the upcoming fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn that ‘The Hitman’ was brought into this thread. It turns out that as a teenager, young Hatton was sitting in the backseat of the stadium when their father – Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn – went head to head for the second time.
“Truly ironic, I started boxing and I never really got into it [seriously] until I got to the Nigel Benn-Eubank game at Old Trafford. I’m 15 years old, paying 75 quid for a ticket and I’m in the back row. I can’t see noout. The crowd cheered, I thought ‘Oh, this is what I want.’
When I used to see Nigel Benn – very aggressive, very offensive – he made you sit in the chair with every attack. And that’s why I started pursuing boxing and started getting serious about boxing.”
In their first fight, Eubank Sr won by knockout. The rematch saw 42,000 bettors fill the Old Trafford pitch, with more than half a billion watching from around the world. It’s a back-and-forth wits with a thrilling final round as you’ll see.
The fight was split into a draw, and the Eubank-Benn rivalry has come to an end, at least for now.
Hatton went on to become a two-weight world champion, apparently thanks to Benn and Eubank Sr for rekindling the desire to pursue the sport properly.
Moving on to the two boys being eliminated, Hatton probably summed up the emotions of many boxing fans around watching fathers go head-to-head in the ’90s.
“When you think now, all these years, that two sons, Conor and Chris Eubank Jr, would fight each other, it’s unthinkable. Their father is [people who] got me into boxing, and now the boys are fighting. And my son fights. It makes you feel old.”
Eubank Jr and Conor Benn will meet in the ring at The O2 in London on October 8. Fans can watch via DAZN PPV.
Ricky Hatton will definitely watch, though a man may not Chris Eubank Sr, who recently spoke out against the war reasoned that cutting the weight was dangerous for his son.
