Chris Eubank Jr. And Conor Benn reconvene at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend, seven months on from their thrilling first encounter.
The British rivals — thrown together by the historic enmity shared by their fathers in the 1990s — shared 12 enthralling middleweight rounds, after which Eubank was declared the winner by a margin of 116-112 on all three judges' scorecards.
Even though Benn's natural weight is down at welterweight or super welter and the 36-year-old Eubank might be better served campaigning at super middleweight at this stage of his career, the financial imperatives to do this again proved too much to resist.
So, with an estimated combined payday of £18million, enticing both men back into the fray, will it be repeat or revenge?
Chris Eubank Jr. Vs. Conor Benn 2 odds and favourite
Chris Eubank Jr is the narrow bookmakers' favourite to win at 4/5, with Benn 6/4 and the draw a much bigger price. You can get 50/1 for Eubank and 70/1 for Benn to win as a new customer on Sky Bet.
EXPLAINED: How to claim Sky Bet's Eubank Jr vs. Benn dual price offer
Chris Eubank Jr. Vs. Conor Benn 2 prediction
Boxing is now very much in its age of the rematch clause. Previously, for a rematch to happen a fight needed to fulfil at least two of these three criteria: the first bout was a thriller, the scorecards were heavily disputed, or there was some other incident of major controversy.
With two-fight deals increasingly the norm as fighters and promoters seek to protect their interests against the whims of governing bodies, some return encounters can feel wholly unnecessary. Devin Haney winning most of the rounds against George Kambosos in their June 2022 unified lightweight title fight before Haney returned four months later to win even more rounds arguably served as the nadir of this trend.
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Eubank vs. Benn 2 does not have anything like those levels of futility, but the promotional tagline of "Unfinished Business" is doing a fair bit of heavy lifting. The first meeting surpassed expectations in terms of entertainment, but there was no controversy and no one disputed Eubank as the worthy winner.
Of course, there are 18 million reasons for Chris and Conor to do this again. But why will there be tens of thousands in attendance once again and a global television audience?
Benn rebuilt a reputation that had been shredded over the previous two-and-a-half years despite suffering a first career defeat. However, there has been some deft narrative spinning on his side. Yes, Benn landed some of the most eye-catching punches, most notably when he rocked Eubank in round three. Additionally, Eubank spent a couple of days in the hospital afterwards, nursing dehydration and the general effects of battle, his face a puffy, swollen mess.
Eubank largely disappeared from view afterwards, his promoter Boxxer suffering the tumult of losing their Sky Sports TV deal, while Benn capitalised upon his enhanced standing and got on the hard sell with the backing of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom. He'd let Eubank off the hook, he'd be smarter this time around and he's the fresher fighter against a man seven years his senior.
Benn's contention that he was too wound up, too eager to do damage last time around is fair enough. However, bringing the chaos still feels like his most likely route to a revenge victory. There is no evidence over the course of his 24-fight career that Benn has the skills and ringcraft to outbox a bigger man over the 12-round distance. There has also been scant evidence of knockout power since Benn's positive test for clomiphene in 2022 and the subsequent controversy. Despite being poleaxed by Liam Smith in January 2023, Eubank has generally boasted a fine chin.
Indeed, much of the focus has been on how Benn might be able to improve enough against an opponent showing evidence of miles on the clock. But what if Eubank can box better this time? He'll certainly be banking on doing so with the esteemed Brian 'Bomac' McIntyre in his corner.
Eubank established an early advantage with his left lead during the first fight but did not bring the right hand into play successfully until the middle rounds. Sharpening up his footwork on the retreat and timing Benn's sometimes crude advances with his back hand from the get-go this time around could leave the smaller man with a mountain to climb.
The tip here is for repeat, either via another unanimous points win or stoppage if Benn is nursing a wide deficit, because he does not seem like a fighter to shirk going out on his shield.