Chris Eubank Jr will have to make a 157lb catchweight for his grudge fight with Conor Benn on October 8, a weight he hasn't touched since his teens.
The middleweight contender has fought as heavy as 168lb, but recently opted to return to 160lb in order to pursue titles in the lighter division. But despite already struggling with that limit, he will go another three pounds lower in order to fight Benn, who is moving up two weight divisions.
He will then also have to weigh-in at 11am the morning of the fight in order to make sure he hasn't rehydrated to a weight too heavy for the contest to take place. That has not been confirmed as yet, but reports suggest it will be as little as 162lb.
Speaking with TalkSPORT Breakfast last week before his first head-to-head with Benn, Eubank Jr said of the weight: “157lb is the weight I have to get down to. It’s a weight I haven’t been since I was about 18 years old. Is it a worry? I guess you could say that.
“It’s more of a challenge, I will make that weight, it’s just how hard is it going to be? I don’t know, but I will make it because I’m a professional - I think I’m around 170lb right now, 171lb. The issue is I have a very low body fat percentage. I know how it feels when I’m at 160lbs the day of the weigh in, so losing three more pounds under that, it’s going to be painful, it’s going to hurt."
At the pair's later press conference, Eubank Jr insisted that he would be only 60 per cent going into the fight, but believes that will be enough to get past the less experienced Benn. The familial rivalry between Eubank and Benn dates back to their fathers' two fights in the 1990s, which were gruesome encounters that ended in a Eubank Sr win and a draw.
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It had always seemed that a bout between the two sons would be too difficult to make given their considerable size difference, but it is now official and set for two months' time. However, Eubank Jr believes he will be at a disadvantage, given he will be drained more than ever in his career for the fight, coming in over a pound lighter than his career-lowest weight which he hit eight years ago.
“In that sense I will be at a disadvantage because he’s going to be fully refreshed, fully hydrated, fully energised," Eubank Jr continued. "Whereas I will be drained. But there has to be give and take, he’s coming up, he’s not naturally that size or he doesn’t fight naturally at that size.
"He probably walks around at that weight, but he doesn’t fight at that weight. On the night we will be within five pounds of each other, which in my opinion is fair.”
