CHRIS EUBANK Jr spending over 24hrs in a Royal London Hospital bed after suffering chronic dehydration is all the evidence boxing fans need to see why a Conor Benn rematch should be dead and buried.
The 35-year-old could not on Friday morning — not even after another desperate last training session moments later.
After the fight, his insides were so bone dry he could barely sweat, when any other athlete on the planet — after 36 minutes of breathless action — would be saturated.
So, what chance that he will be able to boil down to the 160lb limit SAFELY for the , when he will be 36 and further battling with his fading metabolism?
Just because casual fans think they saw a thrilling slugfest between an evenly matched pair of nepo-baby .
Just because the was filled by the generation that wants to film itself attending flashy events — it does not mean a son, a brother and an uncle needs to starve the crucial protective membrane around his brain of water yet again.
Now that the pair have , helped Sky Sports flog hundreds of thousands of pay-per-views, treated their legendary fathers to one last night in the lime-lit ring and itched that itch of a third fight between the families — both men deserve to move on and achieve more.
is 28, his early career was expertly guided and he grabbed the scalps of a few decent Americans but he has never even challenged for an English or British title.
He is too rich and successful to go back now and fight for domestic titles but he is also too small and not talented enough to become a world champion in his new 11st 6lb division.
But he could definitely rebuild back at the 10st 7lb welter limit or even the 11st super-welter maximum, where some tough but beatable names hold the fragmented belts and compete for the top slots.
stock will probably never be higher — but he has repeatedly shown he is unwilling to take world-title shots when the risk outweighs the rewards.
Ex-champ was wisely avoided like the plague and his compatriot, reigning champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, has been dodged like a vegan dinner party invite.
The super-middle division of 12st is the safest place for him to go because there is fellow Londoner lurking there and fellow fighter Callum Simpson in the stable.
Since the tragic 2021 death of his brother Sebastian — who left baby son Raheem behind — Eubank Jr has been candid about his change in priorities.
World title belts, as golden as they may glisten and as deep in boxing stone they might etch names, cannot help to feed, raise and educate a three-year-old boy in .
The statement from his BOXXER promoters could not hide the fact that his kidneys, brain and heart needed to be carefully watched for signs of damage.
They wrote: “As part of his standard post-fight protocol, for precautionary checks to monitor his vitals and ensure everything is in order.
“They take these measures very seriously, given everything they have experienced.
“This process is something they now prioritise after every fight.”;
The first Benn vs Eubank Sr fight, in 1990, ended in an emphatic ninth-round win for the lisping showman.
And the 1993 rematch ended in a controversial draw that most viewers accept should have been awarded to the former British fusilier, Benn.
Now the third instalment has made it 2-0 to the Brighton family, there is just no need to return to that well and keep pulling at the heartstrings.
The nostalgia appeal is as exhausted as the two boxers were from the middle rounds.
And the novelty effect will be as spent as the £16m sunk into their purses.
Any notion of feuding families, malice, spite and bragging rights went down the khazi the second they all hugged and praised each other like a group of boys waiting to meet the chicks of Casa Amor.
The fight was grubby and dangerous, we are lucky a is the worst of the fallout.
There is a reason the British Boxing Board of Control avoided calls and messages from reporters on Friday and Saturday morning about weight-cut rules being broken and liberties taken.
British boxing got away with one, some brave people got rich some greedy ones got even richer.
But the game is too hard — and we are not fortunate enough — to keep pushing our luck with the and safety of men too brave for their own safety.
