Eddie Hearn says he shoved Ben Shalom during tonight’s explosive press conference as he wanted to confront Chris Eubank Jr over his ‘b**** move’ to slap Conor Benn with an egg.
Two months out from Eubank Jr’s eagerly anticipated fight with Benn, the pair faced off at a packed-out Manchester Central Auditorium, where the scenes descended into chaos up on the stage.
Surrounded by various team members and security personnel, the two bitter rivals were seen exchanging a few choice words before Eubank Jr struck his undefeated opponent with some force across the cheek.
It soon emerged that Eubank Jr had smashed an egg into the side of Benn’s face, with yolk clearly visible over the latter’s designer clothes in the immediate aftermath.
The two British fighters – who had originally been due to lock horns in 2022 – had to be held apart as the resulting fracas threatened to get out of hand and the latter’s legendary father, Nigel, was seen grabbing Eubank Jr by the throat.
Elsewhere in the melee, Benn’s promoter, Hearn, attempted to get within earshot of Eubank Jr to condemn his behaviour, pushing Shalom out the way in the process.
‘I wanted to try and tell Eubank Jr that it was a b**** move,’ Hearn told iFL TV when asked why he had pushed Benn’s promoter.
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‘And I just believe, in my instincts and my heart, that Ben knew about that [plan to smash the egg]. He says he didn’t.
‘I was trying to get through and he was in my way… it weren’t f***ing nothing bad was it?!
‘But listen, I don’t mind Ben, genuinely. I do take the mick out of him a little bit.
‘Obviously, I’m going to run rings around him at all junctions but that’s what you’d expect coming into the game.’
Hearn, who initially thought Eubank Jr had glassed Benn, added: ‘I’ve just Ben Shalom a couple of times that we’ve got everything that we’ve wanted and more and, yes, you signed the contract. Don’t moan about it after.
‘You requested a rematch clause, not us. And they just got a little bit lost in their points.
‘The reality is you ain’t gonna outtalk me, ever.’
Asked whether he had spoken to Shalom since the on-stage brawl, Hearn replied: ‘Yes, it’s all cool.
‘He promises me he didn’t know about it. I don’t believe him but I ain’t going to lose a second of sleep over it.
‘It’s good, you want a little bit of aggro don’t you?’
Speaking to Ring Magazine after the fracas, Shalom was adamant he was not involved in Eubank Jr’s plan to egg Benn, insisting ‘Chris does what he wants’.
On the shove he received from Hearn, Shalom added: ‘He did push me, didn’t he?! I’ve been pushed now my Frank [Warren] and Eddie… unbelievable.
‘I think at the start, in fairness to Eddie, he thought it was a glass, he didn’t realise it was an egg.
‘He’s lost his head, he’s trying to do whatever. It wasn’t about him, it wasn’t about me and he’s just come for me. Look, he’s calmed down now.
‘I said, “What the f***’s it got to do with me?!”… he knows that Chris does what he wants, Chris has worked with him.
‘He knows that Chris does what he wants and at the end of the day, now that he knows it’s an egg, he’s calmed down.’
Eubank Jr and Benn are due to hold another press conference on Thursday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the showpiece event will be staged on April 26.
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