Mind Games And Weight Drains Collide

Conor Benn says he’s not bothered with the mind games that Chris Eubank Jr. has been playing in the buildup for their middleweight rematch this Saturday, November 15, 2025, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tottenham in London, England.

Eubank Jr. (35-3, 25 KOs) appeared to have the hot-headed Benn (23-1, 14 KOs) psychologically unglued going into their first fight earlier this year on April 26th. He fought like a madman earlier in the fight, loading up with everything, trying to score a quick knockout of Eubank Jr. to get even with him. It didn’t work.

The calm, wise old veteran, Eubank Jr., outboxed him, winning a 12-round unanimous decision by the scores 116-112, 116-112, and 116-112. Benn’s habit of fighting angrily bit him on the backside in the fight. The only positive thing that came out of the fight was that he inflicted a lot of damage on the older fighter, Eubank Jr., sending him to the hospital all lumped up afterward.

Can Eubank Jr still bring it at 36?

The 14-year pro Eubank Jr. isn’t the fighter that he was earlier in his career, when he was mowing down his opponents with his volume punching and triple hooks. At 36, he’s clearly not the spring chicken he was a decade ago.

Eubank Jr. showed in his fight with Benn, 29, last April that he’s still plenty dangerous due to his volume and inside game. He’s still capable of throwing a lot of shots.

Punch stats for Eubank Jr. vs. Benn

• Chris Eubank Jr – 367 of 912 shots for 40.2% connect rate
• Conor Benn – 215 of 593 for 36.3%

So, unless Eubank Jr. has aged or worn down from his war against Benn last April, he’s going to be just as voluminous on November 15th.

Will Benn show up smarter — not just angrier?

“He can play his games. It doesn’t make any difference come fight night. We’re both going to go in there and have it out,” said Conor Benn to iFL TV about him being immune to the mental games Chris Eubank Jr. is playing ahead of their rematch this Saturday, November 15th in London.

“There’s nothing he can say that will change my game plan or doing what I want to do, which is going in there and putting my hands on him and beating him up again,” said Benn.

It looked like Benn was about to cry at one point during the interview, which suggests that Eubank Jr.’s mind games are indeed affecting him. He wouldn’t be getting to the point of tears if they weren’t. Conor is just like his dad, Nigel Benn. He can’t handle banter well without mentally imploding.

Going by Benn’s emotional behavior during this interview and other interviews, it’s unlikely to be smarter for the rematch. And, yes, he will be just as angry, acting like a classic example of a person with a chip on his shoulder, trying to prove something to himself and to others.

What role will weight and dehydration play this time?

The 160-lb limit and the 10-lb rehydration cap are Eubank Jr’s biggest problems in this fight. He doesn’t belong fighting at middleweight at this late stage of his career. This will be a major factor in the fight.

The rehydration clause that Eubank Jr. agreed to means that neither fighter can gain more than 10 pounds from the official weigh-in this Friday, November 14th, to Saturday morning. It means they can’t weigh more than 170 pounds on Saturday morning.

That could take something out of the 36-year-old Eubank Jr., weakening him enough that he’s less than 100% during the fight with Benn. In the first fight, it didn’t affect Eubank Jr., as he had the better stamina down the stretch and beat the stuffing out of Conor in rounds 10 through 12.

However, with $10 million that Eubank Jr. made in the fight, and him enjoying his victory parade since last April, he may have softened up, and could be weaker after dealing with the 10-lb rehydration rule.