Ricky Hatton has admitted he found the sight of Chris Eubank Jr egging Conor Benn 'quite funny' as the showdown between the two men rapidly approaches.
The pair are currently preparing for Saturday's explosive clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the duo primed to do battle three years after an initial bout first collapsed.
There is plenty of bad blood between Eubank Jr and Benn and, back in February, the former decided to egg his rival with the eyes of the world watching on.
It was an astonishing sight, with a mass brawl breaking out as tempers flared.
Boxing news: Chris Eubank Jr egged Conor Benn at an explosive press conference back in February
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Hatton, speaking exclusively to GB News via Action Network, has now provided his verdict on the incident.
And the Briton has admitted that he found the whole thing 'quite funny', saying: "I don’t know (how I would react) but I thought it was quite funny, and I chuckled but it was disrespectful and there’s no getting away from that, but I thought it was funny.
"He’s a very acquired taste is Eubank Jr, like his dad, but something as humorous and a bit of banter like that, it tickled me.
"I know Chris Eubank Sr isn’t happy with his boy doing that and said he never taught him that but what Chris Sr has to realise is that it’s from a different era.
"I’d have never done that, neither would Chris Sr or Nigel Benn but with social media now, whenever it’s a press conference or a weigh-in, a table gets thrown or there’s pushing or shoving.
"I can see why Conor and Nigel were fuming but it’s added to the fire of the fight with the history of the two fighters. That added more fuel on the fire which has made it interesting.
"It’s a shame to see Chris Sr is not involved, I get it a little bit with what happened with Michael Watson and Gerald McClellan fight and the fight is taking place with the weight situation bearing in mind with the history of what happened with Chris Sr and Nigel.
"That’s why Chris Sr doesn’t want to get involved with his son boiling down in weight to go against Conor who even though is smaller, he is talented and explosive."
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Boxing news: Chris Eubank Jr enraged Conor Benn by smashing an egg into his face back in February
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Benn is undefeated during his professional boxing career.
Eubank Jr, meanwhile, has won 34 of his 37 professional fights so far.
On how he thinks the clash could unfold, Hatton added: "I keep changing my mind every five minutes. A lot of people are the same and are shifting to Eubank Jr because of the size difference.
"Conor has shown fantastic performances which have been explosive and showed great promise, and I’m a friend of Nigel and Conor, but it would be fair to say he hasn’t fought anyone of any particular standard, certainly of the opponents Eubank Jr has faced.
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"That’s at his own weight let alone moving up two weights so that’s Conor Benn for you.
"He’s very much like his dad, fearless with huge self-belief in himself and that’s the hardest thing to beat in the opponent with the belief they have.
"It seems like Chris Eubank Jr has been around forever. Last time he tried to boil his weight down and the fight got cancelled and then he went in with Liam Smith and got stopped.
"He normally has a fantastic chin, and Liam is a lot bigger than Conor but he had been bringing his weight down, so I don’t know if that had a factor in his resistance in the Smith fight."
Boxing news: Ricky Hatton thinks Conor Benn will edge Saturday night's showdown with Chris Eubank Jr
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He does, however, think that Benn has a slight advantage.
"The fact there are so many questions to ask with the weight, size and Conor moving up… I will fancy Conor and if he gets amongst him, he has so much fire in his belly and desire," he continued.
"He doesn’t like Chris so I think that extra bit of fire might be a points decision or a stoppage down the straight.
"No result would surprise me. If Chris comes out and outboxes him and outclasses him, he is well capable of doing that with the higher level of opposition he has fought but it could go any way and no result would surprise me."
