Hearn And Shalom Clash After Eubank-Benn Egg Incident – ‘You’re A Little Bit Snaky’
The Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn presser has resulted in a massive fallout between Eddie Hearn and Ben Shalom.
Eubank Jr. crossed the line as he slapped Benn with an egg during their face-off in the run-up to their April 26 fight. The use of the egg was in reference to Benn’s failed VADA tests for Clomiphene. The WBC suggested the findings could have been due to an overconsumption of eggs, as Benn maintained his innocence. While Benn is cleared to box, there are still question marks over the exact nature over why he was cleared.
The egg-slapping incident has not helped matters. Hearn questioned whether Shalom was aware that Eubank was going to do this. Shalom denied knowing anything of the sort, resulting in a strong reaction from Hearn. The two promoters already don’t see eye-to-eye, and this incident has not helped matters. There are suggestions that Eubank could suffer a fine, while Hearn has warned Eubank that Benn’s mentality has now changed.
Shalom Reacts
“I didn’t [know]. I’ve asked Chris Eubank Jr what he was going to say for weeks because of the last press conference, the famous press conference where he went at every other promoter. He wouldn’t tell me, he wouldn’t tell his girlfriend, he wouldn’t tell his manager, he wouldn’t tell anyone — which meant I knew I was in for something.
“When it got to the end of the press conference and he’d not said anything really, I was thinking ‘here we go, I’m through’ and I thought it time to go home. So genuinely I think you can see I was shocked. At first I genuinely thought it was worse than it was because I thought he’d slapped him with something else. Obviously now I’ve seen that it’s an egg. I’m not condoning it, but no, Chris Eubank Jr will do what he wants. He’s an enigma, he’s an entertainer, he’s a fighter, and everyone knows that.
“He’s [Benn] angry, yeah. [And] he’s angry because obviously I am the promoter and he is angry, but everyone’s going to be angry after that and I think things will calm down. Egos have been bruised, hopefully we move on,” Shalom said
Hearn Responds
“No, we are on good terms. I don’t believe he didn’t know about it (the egging). No I don’t, because you’re a little bit snaky. The game has changed now. When you’re talking about Conor, and particularly Nigel, you’re not talking about people that will sleep on it and wake up and be really happy. Like, he’s been whacked around the face with an objected in his eye and they ain’t very happy about it. So we just got to make sure if we go ahead with the presser on Thursday that there are precautions in place because if Conor and Nigel see Eubank, it’s on.
“At the time I thought it was a glass, if I’m honest. It shattered everywhere. I wasn’t happy because, you’ve got to understand, everything that Eubank does is premeditated…He’s got someone to buy an egg, give it to him, and he’s gone up on the stage with an egg sat in his pocket. Everybody on the team knows what he’s about to do, and he’s hit him around the face with an egg,” Hearn stated
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