Eubank Jr vs Benn 2 undercard revealed as Jack Catterall features against Ekow Essuman

The undercard for Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn’s hotly-anticipated rematch has been announced, with Jack Catterall and Ekow Essuman squaring off in the chief support bout.

On 15 November, Benn will bid for revenge against Eubank Jr at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the latter won their scintillating first clash in April.

Eubank Jr, 36, was a decision winner over Benn, 28, in the all-British bout, in which the latter moved up in weight to face the son of his father’s fiercest rival; in the 1990s, Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn squared off twice.

As Eubank Jr and Conor Benn prepare to wage war again, the undercard has been announced, with a welterweight tilt between Catterall and Essuman perhaps the most intriguing prospect.

Nottingham’s Essuman last fought in May, venturing into enemy territory to beat Josh Taylor on points in Scotland. Now, he has been paired with Taylor’s longtime rival Catterall, who competes at welterweight for the second time as he faces Essuman.

Chorley’s Catterall won a technical decision against Harlem Eubank, the cousin of Eubank Jr, in his divisional debut in July. With that, he bounced back from a narrow loss to Arnold Barboza Jr in a super-lightweight interim-title fight.

Catterall was ahead against Eubank on the scorecards when the fight was stopped due to an accidental clash of heads, which left Catterall in particular with a nasty cut.

Also on the card in Tottenham will be a super-lightweight bout between the highly-touted Adam Azim and opponent Zaur Abdullaev; a heavyweight clash pitting Richard Riakporhe against Tommy Welch; a super-welterweight meeting between Sam Gilley and Ishmael Davis; and a super-flyweight match-up between Mikie Tallon and Fezan Shahid.

Riakporhe’s outing is one to look out for, as he competes at heavyweight for the second time after moving up from cruiserweight.

After last week’s launch press conference for Eubank Jr vs Benn 2, the latter’s promoter Eddie Hearn threatened legal action against Eubank Jr.

During the press conference, Eubank Jr had said: “They did everything they could to try and destroy me in this last fight: contract breaches, fines, rehydration clauses, they sabotaged the weigh-in, [there was] biased commentary and refereeing, the list goes on.

“After the fight, due to severe dehydration, I’m put in an ambulance and I have to go to hospital. I was so dehydrated, one of the toenails on my big toe fell off. I’m in the ambulance and these scumbags blocked that ambulance from leaving the stadium for 20 minutes. We were locked in for 20 minutes, I’m lying there in a gurney with an oxygen mask on, the car cannot move because they won’t open the gates to let us leave.

“If this was a serious injury I’d sustained... that 20 minutes could have been the difference between life and death. While this was happening, Eddie Hearn and Conor Benn were talking to the media, lying about me having a broken jaw.”

Afterwards, Hearn told the written media, including The Independent: “It [a conversation with our lawyer] won’t be tomorrow morning, it’ll be in five minutes. You can’t do that. If you’re an idiot, you believe that s***.

“Go up to a paramedic: ‘Just delay the ambulance by 20 minutes to go to the hospital.’ He’s playing the victim, 90 per cent of what he says is total b*****ks.”