GEORGE GROVES insists hot-head Conor Benn must control his emotions if he is to exorcise the ghost of his haunting loss to Chris Eubank Jr.
Benn fought back tears in April following his second generation grudge match defeat to Eubank Jr – with the two rematching on Saturday live on DAZN PPV.
But the 29-year-old promises to not let his head rule over his heart this time around – refusing to engage in heated pre-fight mind games.
And Groves – who outclassed Eubank Jr in their 2018 super-middleweight title fight – agrees Benn must first conqueror the mental fight before winning the one inside the ring.
Alongside Carl Froch, he said on SunSport’s No Glove Lost episode: “I think it’s natural that once you’ve had the fight, your emotions slightly soften.
“But he is an emotional guy, Conor Benn. I think he’s always gonna be that and he has lost the first fight and that’s haunting him, I’d imagine.
“He’s certainly a man who comes across as uber ambitious and driven, and you had Sam Gilley there talking about how hard he’s training.
“I bet a lot of that is driven from emotion. Whether there’s as much hatred for Eubank as there was before, if there’s less, that’s better.
“I mean, this guy (Froch) hated me in our first fight and he managed to get that hatred under control and performed a lot better in the second one.
“Because you can’t always fight with your emotions running loose. Boxing is physical, it’s mental, but it’s also emotional.
Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn 2 – all the info
TIME for round two of this generation’s family feud!
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn go punch-for-punch once again as both rivals look to make their fathers proud.
The blockbuster rematch takes place at the 62,000-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, November 15.
Eubank Jr narrowly outpointed his bitter foe after 12 brutal rounds in April to secure the bragging rights in what was certainly a Fight of the Year contender.
And the two British superstars will dance once more as Eubank Jr aims to do the double while Benn seeks revenge after suffering a first career loss.
WATCH EUBANK JR VS BENN 2 ONLY ON DAZN
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“It’s highly emotional, especially at the top level, especially when there’s a rivalry like this, and the pressure that comes with it.”
Super-middleweight Gilley has been a regular Benn sparring partner and he told our star-studded panel that the son of a legend has never looked more composed.
But Eubank Jr’s cousin Harlem – who joined Groves, Froch and his uncle Chris Sr on the show – argues that Benn is forfeiting his best asset by cooling down.
Harlem, 31, said: “I feel like Conor fights on raw emotion and that’s his strength and this time I feel like he’s talking like he’s gonna not box with emotion, which I think would just play into Jr’s hands even more so.”
Eubank Jr missed the 160lb middleweight limit by an agonising 0.05lb – the weight of a single BATTERY – costing him £375,000.
And to avoid further financial penalties, he also had to comply with the 10lb rehydration clause on the morning of the bout.
It makes it all the more impressive that Eubank Jr, 36, was able to dig down deep to win the final two rounds of the fight – securing him victory.
But Froch – who retired at 38 after knocking out Groves in their 2014 rematch – questioned whether Eubank Jr can pull it out of the fire one more time.
You can’t always fight with your emotions running loose. Boxing is physical, it’s mental, but it’s also emotional.
George Groves
He said: “They’re both gonna be fit, strong, determined to win.
“I just think that now in the rematch, the second fight, because of Chris Eubank Jr’s age and how hard the first fight was, and how his father has reinforced the weight-cutting problem, I just think he won’t be as good in the rematch.
“I might be proven wrong, I hope I am but I don’t think he can do that again to the level he did because he really finished strong with his foot on the pedal for the last two rounds and I was very impressed with the way he did that.
“Conor Benn will improve, he will learn from that. He’s 28 years old, he’ll grow, he’ll improve. When you’re at the age that Eubank Jr is, you don’t get better.
“From my experience, you get a bit slower, the training becomes a bit harder, the desire, it’s just harder when you’re older because we’re governed by age, time waits for no man.
“So I think the older Chris is probably gonna struggle a little bit more than what Conor will do.”
Eubank Jr has brought in Terence Crawford’s esteemed trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre back into his camp ahead of the rematch.
‘Who wants it more’
The American steered him to victory over Liam Smith in his must-win sequel against Liam Smith – seven months after losing by KO.
But Groves – who like Froch sparred a young and hungry Eubank Jr 15 YEARS AGO – is backing Benn for victory this time around despite BoMac’s return to the corner.
He said: “I think Conor Benn wins the rematch, I think there’s more for him to gain, avenge the loss. Eubank Jr got a lot wrong in the first one and he tried to fight too many people up too, he took on too much.
“Maybe that’s different and going back with BoMac is a spanner in the works in many regards – but maybe that win against Liam Smith was flattering because Liam Smith was sort of not fit.
“If we talk about real fights, it’s who gets out first and executes their game plan right? Who gets out and establishes their jab, controls the distance, gets their rhythm going, settles into the fight?
“And then what is most importantly, once you settle into the fight in that flow state where they’re not burning up energy – because neither guy really got settled before it ended up being just a dogfight – and then it was whoever could last longer.
“So there could be that element to it and maybe with BoMac, Eubank comes out, does what he needs to do, keeps his head back, long with a jab, creates the right distance, lands a few shots on Conor, stops him from bounding around.
“But if it doesn’t go that way, Conor catches him with the right hand, finds his distance. If you think about who wants it more, I think it’s Conor Benn this time.”
