CHRIS EUBANK JR VS CONOR BENN - FULL UNDERCARD PREVIEW
All eyes are once again on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend as Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn go at it for a second time.
Before that though, there’s an absolutely stacked undercard which features three domestic barnstormers and two that include some of the future stars of British boxing.
First up, we’ll take a look at the chief support to the main event — Jack Catterall’s welterweight clash with Ekow Essuman.
A man who many believe was robbed of becoming undisputed super-lightweight champion, Chorley’s Jack Catterall has had a rather indifferent few years since that infamous night in February 2022.
He strung four back-to-back victories together after that defeat, one of those being a rematch victory over Josh Taylor, before a rather lacklustre performance saw him edged out by split decision against the future world title challenger Arnold Barboza.
El Gato returned to the win column in bizarre fashion last time out against Harlem Eubank — a fight in which he won by technical decision after an accidental clash of heads caused a cut on Catterall which the referee deemed too bad to let him continue.
It wasn’t the way he would have wanted to win, but ultimately it was a win, and that’s exactly what he needed to start his journey back to a world title.
Essuman has had a much different career of late compared to Catterall.
After beating Chris Jenkins for the British title back in 2021, he made four successful defences before suffering the first defeat of his career to the tricky Harry Scarff.
Like all good champions do, he bounced back from that loss better than ever with three straight victories, including a win over former undisputed champ Josh Taylor — something he and Catterall have in common.
To the fight then, and it’s going to be a proper good clash of styles.
Essuman’s nickname is The Engine, and that is a testament to his durability and work rate. He’s in your face constantly, throwing punches from different angles and making his opponents work harder than they’d have wanted to.
Catterall, on the other hand, is a tricky southpaw counter-puncher.
Despite not having a stoppage victory to his name for a while now, his punch power is arguably the most underrated in boxing. He’s the only man to have dropped Josh Taylor in his 22-fight professional career and, after teaming up in Philadelphia with Bozy Ennis — the father of one of the best P4P stars on the planet right now, Jaron Ennis — he’s going to be looking to show everyone that the sparring rumours are right about him and become the first man to stop Essuman.
With Ekow, you know what you’re getting, but with Jack, it’s the element of the unknown. Bozy isn’t going to have been able to change him completely in the short time they’ve spent together, but one thing Jaron Ennis doesn’t lack is spitefulness — and if Jack adds that to his game, he’s going to be one hard man to beat, especially considering how much Essuman tends to get hit.
Two styles, one fight — don’t take your eyes off this one.
Up next is the British & Commonwealth super-welterweight clash between Sam Gilley and Ishmael Davis.
A man who’s just as familiar with Fight of the Year contenders as he is with oxygen, Sam Gilley is arguably one of the most entertaining fighters in the UK right now, but he just hasn’t had the opportunities he deserves.
After defeat to Danny Ball at welterweight back in 2021, he rightly stepped up to 154 lbs and since then has not looked back.
Undefeated in eight fights at the weight, he’s won half of those by stoppage, though he did suffer a shock, controversial draw in his last fight against Gideon Onyenani — a fight many believed he was hard done by in.
Now though, he steps up against what will be the toughest test of his career so far — the game Ishmael Davis.
Mr Reliable himself was undefeated in his first 13 fights as a pro before back-to-back defeats to Josh Kelly and Serhii Bohachuk in bouts he took on extremely late notice — something the Leeds man deserves a massive amount of credit for, despite the defeats.
He was then narrowly beaten by Caoimhin Agyarko in a fight which could have gone either way before getting a win under his belt against journeyman Elliot Eboigbe — meaning he would be allowed to fight Gilley for the British and Commonwealth titles.
There’s only one way this fight will go, and that’s to the war zone.
Both lads can box, both have high boxing IQs, but more than anything, they don’t half love a bloody tear-up.
It may come down to who wants it most. They’re both excellent body punchers, so expect them to target the midriff area and look to systematically break each other down.
If that’s the case, it’s going to be a phone box classic — and no matter who has their hand raised at the end, the real winners will be the fans.
Also on the card, Richard Riakporhe fights up at heavyweight for the second time against the undefeated Tommy Welch, while super-lightweight contender Adam Azim takes on late replacement Kurt Scoby.
Opening the show is one of Turki Alalshikh’s favourite fighters and flyweight prospect Mikie Tallon, who’ll be looking to move to 11-0 against Fezan Shahid.
A top-quality undercard before a historic main event — British boxing is back to its very best this weekend.
Eubank Jr vs Benn 2 | Saturday, November 15th | Live only on @daznboxing | Buy the PPV HERE