In the name of their fathers: Eubank v Benn began and ended a heady era of British boxing

<p>Their dads lit a fire that consumed me but Eubank Jr v Conor Benn embodies all that has gone wrong with the Dark Trade</p><p>Thirty-five years ago this month, on 18 November 1990, my life changed course when I watched Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn fight each other in Birmingham with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/nov/14/nigel-benn-chris-eubank">a ferocity which left me astonished and breathless</a>. After that savage and surreal contest, I began working on a book about boxing, <a href="https://www.donaldmcrae.com/book-dark-trade.php">Dark Trade</a>, which allowed me to become a full-time writer.</p><p>Benn and Eubank were so different that my already deep interest in boxing caught fire. I became consumed by the fight game for decades until, earlier this year, I finished writing The Last Bell, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/mar/01/boxing-last-bell-writers-goodbye-to-violent-obsession-after-lifetime-dedication">my fifth and final book about boxing</a>. I still loved the most interesting fighters and their incredible life stories, but the controversies around the manufactured rivalry between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr left me sick at heart.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/nov/15/in-the-name-of-their-fathers-eubank-v-benn-began-and-ended-a-heady-era-of-british-boxing">Continue reading...</a>