Turki Alalshikh didn’t waste any time to firm up business for two names on his list.
 
The second-generation grudge match between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn is not only back in play but signed and sealed. Their bout will take place on an April date—likely April 26—at a location to be determined in London.
 
Eubank-Benn will kick off a planned series by Alalshikh through The Ring, in a working collaboration with SNK Corporation and its forthcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves fighting game.
 
“Eubank Jr vs Benn done in April, London,” confirmed Alalshikh, who recently purchased The Ring print and digital assets. “Soon I will announce the day and the location, it will be The Ring’s first card in collaboration with the video game and SNK.
 
“I will push to make PPV price 19.99 GBP for the fans, with tough undercard…[let’s] get boxing great again and wait for huge announcement soon.”

As previously reported by The Ring, Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) and Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) negotiated directly—though separately—with Alalshikh in lieu of their rival promoters attempting to reach a deal. Eubank is signed to Ben Shalom’s BOXXER, while Benn is represented by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
 
Hearn and Shalom both acknowledged that the resurrected fight had a much better chance of happening under that setting than if they had to negotiate on their own.
 
Among the concessions granted by Benn are the weight and billing.
 
The fight will take place at the 160-pound middleweight limit, where Eubank is The Ring’s No. 5 contender. Benn is a career welterweight whose last two fights were closer to junior middleweight.
 
Eubank’s name will appear first in promotional material (Eubank-Benn), though it is not yet decided who will enter the ring and be introduced last.
 
One item in Benn’s favor is a ten-pound rehydration clause in place for the same-day weight-check. Neither fighter can weigh more than 170 pounds during the commission-supervised weigh-in, likely to take place on the morning of the fight.
 
While a location was not yet established, both sides seemed to believe the fight is big enough to land at London’s famed Wembley Stadium.
 
Eubank Jr. and Benn are both the offspring of famous former two-division titlists.
 
Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn were prominent figures in the 1990s U.K. boxing scene, complete with their contentious two fight series. Eubank Sr. won their Nov. 1990 meeting via ninth-round stoppage to claim the WBO middleweight title.
 
Both fighters subsequently won super middleweight titles, which were at stake in their Oct. 1993 rematch at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. Their WBC/WBO unification bout ended in a twelve-round draw.
 
This generation’s boxers were originally due to meet In Oct. 2022 at The O2 in London. They agreed on a 157-pound catchweight for the bout.
 
The fight was canceled just days before amidst a wave of negative press surrounding previous positive drug tests produced by Benn for the banned substance Clomiphene. The matter became the subject of a lengthy legal battle with the United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) agency, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) and National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP).
 
Benn was not licensed in the UK for more than a year as a result but was since cleared. He fought twice in the U.S. during that period, after producing multiple clean tests to where he was able to remove a temporary suspension imposed by the Association of Boxing Champions (ABC).
 
Both fights took place above the welterweight limit. Benn defeated Rodolfo Orozco (33-3-3 at the time) in their Sept. 2023 meeting at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. Ironically, Orozco subsequently tested positive for a banned substance surrounding the fight.
 
His lone fight since then was a ten-round, unanimous decision over unbeaten Peter Dobson, who was 16-0 at the time of their Feb. 3 DAZN headliner from The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
 
Eubank moved on from the Benn drama to fight three times in that span.

His first one out the gate was a stunning fourth-round knockout defeat to former WBO 154-pound titlist Liam Smith in their Jan. 2023 meeting. Eubank was able to get it back in blood, in the form of a tenth-round knockout in their Sept. 2023 rematch. Both fights took place at AO Arena in Manchester, England.
 
A 13-month inactive period preceded Eubank’s most recent bout, a seventh-round knockout of former middleweight title challenger Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2, 8 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight took place last Oct. 12 on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard, Eubank’s first direct experience with Riyadh Season.
 
It opened the door to resurrect a rivalry that seemed destined to never make it to the ring. It is now set to launch a new series of blockbuster fights presented by Alalshikh outside of Riyadh Season.