Chris Eubank Jr reveals how he agreed ‘diabolical’ purse for Conor Benn clash (Image: Getty Images)
Chris Eubank Jr has spilled the beans on his intense negotiations with Turki Alalshikh regarding his payout for the upcoming bout against Conor Benn, culminating in a ‘diabolical number. ‘
After over two years of anticipation, the two British boxing stars are primed to face off and settle their feud on April 26, as they step into the ring at Stadium in London for a highly-anticipated middleweight clash.
This week saw the pugilists come head-to-head twice, with Eubank Jr theatrically during Tuesday’s encounter. Come Thursday, security personnel were humorously on the lookout for eggs as Eubank Jr outlined the penning of his fight agreement.
The 35 year old then chronicled his bargaining experience with the Saudi boxing honcho, without missing the chance to land a verbal blow on promoter Eddie Hearn. He remarked, “Many of you would have heard Eddie boasting about a 60-40 split he secured for Conor,” continuing, “That’s just an absolute lie, which is not surprising.”
Not stopping there, he added, “The truth of it is, Uncle Turki flew in and saved the day like the superhero he is. This is the Saudi show, he called me and said, ‘What do you want to make this fight?’ I’m sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve got to be a businessman now, and any good businessman in any negotiation, starts with an aggressively high number, then there are counter offers and negotiating and you get to the number.
“I gave him a diabolical number, I gave him an inconceivable number, and he said, ‘Done, I’ll send you the contract on Monday.’ I’m thinking I could have got more, or a couple of watches out of him! There is no split, there are no percentages, you lied to the public in front of everybody and now I’m setting this straight.”
Eubank Jr also defended his controversial egg-throwing incident earlier this week, expressing his disdain for Benn and his promoter Eddie Hearn. “I’m sitting up here on a stage with two of the scummiest characters in boxing in my opinion; a drug cheat and a man who did everything in his power to help him get away with it,” he said.
“Me throwing an egg at someone who absurdly claims that’s why he failed two drug tests, I think that’s light; he deserved the embarrassment. If I had the opportunity to do it again I would. Unfortunately I came unarmed today, I’ve been thoroughly searched multiple times, I couldn’t sneak anything in. This is going to be a real fight, this is going to be a bloodbath.”