Nigel Benn vs Chris Eubank: How British boxing’s greatest ever rivalry spoke to society like no other fight

‘I didn’t feel it at the time,’ Chris Eubank Snr recalls, discussing the sheer magnitude of his legendary wars with Nigel Benn.

‘I was too young, I didn’t have an evolved mind. It was all about winning the respect of my brothers and everyone else. That was my objective and that is what I did.’

The fiercest of enemies turned friends, Eubank and Benn share one of the most significant chapters in British boxing history, a rivalry that burned so intensely it demanded the attention of the country as the sport rode the peak of its popularity in the 1990s.

With boxing then still freely available on terrestrial TV, they went to battle in 1990, with Eubank stopping Benn in the ninth round to take his WBO middleweight title. The hatred endured and three years later, 42,000 crammed into Old Trafford to watch it play out all over again. ‘Judgement Day’ ended in a split decision draw.

Measuring the impact it was all having was impossible at the time, with each man solely focused on taking apart the other. ‘It never hit home,’ Benn said, agreeing with his old rival in a joint interview with Metro.co.uk.

‘I wasn’t really thinking about it, I was just thinking about him. I didn’t have time to think about what was going on outside the ring, in society, in front rooms across the country. I just had this animosity against this person that I really disliked. We never thought about anything else.

‘I always just saw it as two guys who shared this huge rivalry coming together. I never knew it would be that big, even to this day. There has never been a rivalry in British boxing history like me and Chris.’

Ilford-born Benn grew into one of the most fearsome punchers this country has seen as he enjoyed his rapid rise in the late 80s before he came