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Do Not Pass Go: Chris Eubank Jr.'s failed cut adds final twist to Monopoly boxing battle with Conor Benn
Chess might not be a game as old as time, but it certainly feels like it stretches back into the history books longer than most intellectual disciplines.
It is a game of abstract chance, built on disciplined calculations and incisive decisions; a two-person tete-a-tete where the best can ruthlessly exploit the rest in one move.
Yet for all the analogies sport has drawn from it, it is not so much chess as it is a different board game that springs to mind before Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn’s bout.
Monopoly has not even made the century mark – it was first released in 1935 – but its own turn-based tactical formation feels more aptly fitting to this blockbuster occasion.
For one, the weigh-in between the pair takes place at London’s Business Design Centre, a stone’s throw away from The Angel, Islington – one of its most famed properties.
Put it another way, its economics-based design - the balance of risk and reward - is a shrewd fit for two men whose differences seemed even more pronounced on Friday night.
Headlines in the wake of Thursday's press conference honed in on Eubank Jr.'s emotional monologue amid a tableau of a pair whose swagger seemed frozen by the occasion.
For all the usual back-and-forth between both parties, not even a prolonged face-off of immovable dedication could mask a brittle sense of wariness and weariness on stage.
From Old Kent Road to Mayfair
What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four hours or so after they last met, the difference between the two felt like night and day as the fallout of a failed weight cut spilled over.
Beneath the wrought iron slope of the former Royal Agricultural Hall roof, its glass windows filled with mid-evening sunlight above, one man was clearly happier than the other.
Over weeks and months since this rearranged date was announced two-and-a-half years on from its original date, many have wondered how Benn would handle the heft.
A welterweight by trade, he would need to step up two divisions to make this matchup at middleweight, while Eubank Jr. instead would only need to slim back to a familar level.
Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing
With a rehydration clause in play however, the tables have been turned. It is Benn who comfortably made an impressive weight and Eubank Jr who missed by an ounce.
The immediate reprecussions - a $500,000 fine, do not pass go - have not landed the latter in Jail on the first corner, between Pentonville Road and Pall Mall however.
But it adds further complications in his attempts to pack on the extra pounds even within the limits set out, with an additional weigh-in required for the star on Saturday too.
It leaves Eubank Jr. down near Old Kent Road and Whitechapel Road, still mulling if the top hat or the thimble is his best bet to get him around the board and out of trouble.
Conversely, Benn finds himself on the far side, perhaps even towards Park Row and Mayfair - a man riding high with all the self-belief and braggadocio to sell those prospects.
Board set to be scattered
The contrast could not have been clearer when the two made their way to the stage too, escorted from the upper tiers of the venue and past a vociferous crowd of spectators.
Benn, chest puffed and peacocking, arrived flanked by a two-dozen-plus entourage of friends and family, all clad in the familiar black-silk, pyjama-esque get-up he has favoured.
Eubank Jr., conversely, arrived alone, with just two security guards for company on the walk to the ceremonial scales, face pallid and uncomfortable despite his efforts to hide it.
Most pundits have favoured the latter, given his weight, age and experience placed against his opponent's need to vault the classes - and put a prolonged saga behind him too.
But even if Nigel Benn's hyperbolic rapture for his son's sparring turns is just smoke and mirrors for the ceremony at hand, it does feel like a wind of change has blown into town.
With only a matter of hours before the pair step into the ring, this final public curveball has threatened to scatter houses and hotels across the board, upending bank expectations.
Come Saturday night however, only one fighter will be sitting pretty with a monopoly over the other - and with the final dice thrown, it's time to see whereabouts they will land.
For both Eubank Jr. and Benn, here once for the legacy of their fathers, the result could come to define their own lasting impression upon the British boxing scene.
They have made their calculations, bet their money and built for the risk. Now, we are about to find out just which one will be checking in - and which one will be left to check out.
Watch three incredible fight nights in one week only on DAZN
Fight fans are in for a treat at the end of April / start of May, with three amazing fight cards within seven days - and DAZN PPV is the only place to watch them all.
- April 26: Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn
- May 2: Ryan Garcia vs Rolly Romero; Devin Haney vs Jose Ramirez; Teofimo Lopez vs Arnold Barboza Jr.
- May 3: Canelo Alvarez vs William Scull
Arch rivals Eubank Jr and Benn finally go head-to-head to start the exhilarating week, with PPV prices at £19.95 in the UK; $24.99 in the US; €24.99 in Europe.
Garcia vs. Romero and Canelo vs. Scull fight nights follow, which will both be exclusively on DAZN. Fight fans can purchase either fight individually for $59.99 US; £/€21.99 UK/IRE; ROW - $24.99 per PPV or take advantage of the DAZN Knockout Weekend Bundle where both fights can be purchased for $90 US; £34.99 in the UK and €34.99 in Europe .
