1 There will be a rematch

Yes, it’s true, we knew there would be a rematch before even hearing the first bell. However, until the fight had actually played out, we couldn’t say with certainty that the plan would go ahead. If, for instance, one of the two fighters triumphed with ease, there would be far less of a demand for them to do it all over again and other plans would have to be made. 

As it happened, because the fight between Eubank Jnr and Benn was fairly close, Saturday delivered the best possible scenario for both the fighters and the men in suits. Now it is almost 99.9 per cent guaranteed a rematch will follow later in the year.

2 Eubank Jnr is slowing down

For all his heroics on the night, it is hard to ignore how much slower Eubank Jnr looked when compared to both Benn and his old self. Of course, that he was slower than Benn will have come as no surprise, for Benn is the smaller man, but it is clear too that Eubank Jnr, now 35, is having to amend his style to compensate for things he can no longer do. 

3 Eubank Jnr was surprised by Benn

“He surprised me,” said Eubank Jnr after the fight. “I didn’t know he had what he had in him. I really didn’t. I thought I would break him early. I underestimated him. I didn’t train for a fight like that.”

4 Conor Benn did the better impression

Of the two fighters, it was Conor Benn who came closer to mimicking the style and moves of his father. Eubank Jnr, perhaps because he was tired, toyed with Benn, Eubank-like, for only a round or two before eventually being drawn into the kind of battle Benn, the brawler, wanted from the very start. In these moments Eubank Jnr looked less like his dad, while Benn, especially when throwing wild hooks, evoked his dad time and time again.

5 Eubank Jnr is the better, smarter fighter

Due to his experience there was forever a sense that Eubank Jnr was a step ahead of Benn in terms of his thinking and his punch variety. Even when not at his best, and he was maybe too drained to be close to it on Saturday, Eubank Jnr was still able to control Benn with his jab, his combinations, and his pressure. His only worry, in fact, had to do with punch resistance and the rigours of weight-making, which we know tend to leave a boxer vulnerable when big punches land. 

6 Both really wanted it

It seems an obvious thing to expect given the history and animosity between them, yet the desire to win, from both, was still impressive to witness on the night. Even though both were full of nervous energy, and exhausted from early on, nothing stopped either man from punching, trying, and doing all they could to ensure it was their hand raised at the end. The 12th round, in particular, showed exactly how much it meant to them.

7 Conor Benn is the “people’s champion”

That’s according to Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, though you will struggle to find too many others who share this opinion. Benn, after all, is someone who needs to do more than just battle hard for 12 rounds against Chris Eubank Jnr to undo the damage two failed performance-enhancing drug tests did to his reputation in 2022. Not only that, the idea seems even harder to support when you remember that Michael Watson, the man damaged in a fight against Chris Eubank in 1991, has long been known as the “people’s champion” in British boxing.

8 Chris Eubank Jnr pushes through the pain barrier

Chris Eubank Jnr’s description of what he considers true pain – which he delivered at the final press conference on Thursday – was the only decent thing anybody said during the build-up to Saturday’s fight. If you heard it, it would have then come as no surprise to see Eubank Jnr battle through various cuts and extreme fatigue to outlast Conor Benn down the stretch on Saturday. That pain, to Eubank Jnr, was nothing.

9 Chris Eubank is still the star of the show

Conspicuous by his absence throughout the build-up to the fight, it was then apparent on the night just how much Chris Eubank was missed when he made an unannounced appearance alongside his son. The second he emerged, it became abundantly clear that Eubank, of all the men involved with this fight, was the only one with that true magnetism and ability to have you hanging on their every word. The rest were just doing their best with what they had. 

10 Dad is a help, not a hindrance

It has been difficult throughout Chris Eubank Jnr’s career to determine whether his father, such a large and at times overbearing presence, has had a positive or negative effect on him. The perks of having him around are obvious, yet there has been tension, too, especially as Eubank Jnr has grown up and wanted to become more of his own man. Indeed, Chris Junior has on occasion tried to distance himself from his father and even told him he didn’t want him to be in his corner anymore. And yet, on Saturday night, when the presence of his father carried a greater weight than ever, Eubank Jnr admitted that seeing his dad in the venue gave him “something extra”.