‘You are snaky’ – Eddie Hearn and Ben Shalom get into tense backstage argument after Chris Eubank Jr eggs Conor Benn
Eddie Hearn branded rival promoter Ben Shalom 'snaky' and refuses to believe he was unaware of Chris Eubank Jr's egg stunt.
The rivalry between Eubank Jr and Conor Benn became even more ferocious when the former slapped his foe with an egg during their face-off during a heated press conference in Manchester.
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Benn was left seething and had to be forcefully restrained as multiple members of security swarmed the stage to separate the two fighters.
Amidst the fracas, vision emerged of Hearn shoving Shalom but it was nowhere near as violent as what transpired between the two boxers, who will finally settle their grudge on April 26 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, the promoters had evidently cooled off when they were interviewed by scores of reporters who had attended the first of two scheduled press conferences, with the second to be held in London on Thursday.
Hearn and Shalom, who promote Benn and Eubank Jr respectively, were asked whether they were on good terms.
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Hearn replied: "No, we are on good terms. I don't believe he didn't know about it (the egging)."
Shalom hit back: "You know I didn't."
Hearn said: "No I don't, because you're a little bit snaky."
Shalom reiterated he had no prior knowledge of the stunt Eubank Jr would pull and told Hearn: "Don't talk s***."
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He added: "You can't say things that aren't true."
Hearn, seemingly growing frustrated, said: "I've been very nice to you lately, I've given you a big education these past few weeks.
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"I've told you, you're very lucky to be talking to me."
The Matchroom chairman insisted that, despite the prior animosity, the pair 'do get on well' and 'actually have a bit of banter'.
Hearn even claimed Shalom asked him to go on the board of his promotional company Boxxer, but the latter insisted it was nothing more than a joke.
"But the reality of it is, it's camp v camp," Hearn said.
"So I don't have any emotion towards this man. I just think it (the egging) was a b**** move."
Shalom defended himself and claimed he spent two weeks trying to get an idea of what Eubank Jr would say at the press conference.
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"He wouldn't tell me, he wouldn't tell his girlfriend, he wouldn't tell his best friend," Shalom said.
"We know why now."
Hearn replied: "You've got to have a closer relationship with your fighters. I'm a bit worried about you. He was the only man who knew about the egg.
"How did he smuggle it in? It was unbelievable.
"Next time I go up to him, I'm going to go, 'Alright Chris', and just try and pat the egg in there."
Given the explosive scenes for the first instalment of their two scheduled press conferences, security will be on red alert to ensure Thursday's event does not descend into utter chaos.
Chris Eubank Jr. smacks egg in face of Conor Benn as presser descends into chaos
In a later interview, Hearn said that he was not even sure Thursday's press conference would be able to go ahead.
He told Sky Sports: “Everything he does is premeditated. There’s nothing that happens that he adapts to during a press conference.
“I thought it was a b**** move to be honest with you. He’s taken an egg to a press conference.
“He’s sat at the press conference the whole time with an egg and he’s slapped Conor Benn in the face.
“I thought it was a glass because of the noise it made. The world we live in today, it will go viral and people will find it amusing.
“In the fight game, everything changes. You don’t want to be backstage right now.
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“If you see Nigel Benn tonight then run. These aren’t normal people where you have a cup of tea and forget about it.
“This fight was heated and had bad blood, everything has changed now because of that.
“I don’t know if we can do Thursday’s press conference now because it will be attack on sight.
“It wasn’t a slap it was with an object in the eye. It’s unacceptable, but the game is the game.
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“If you want to play those games then the fun begins now.
“I could not let Conor or Nigel Benn anywhere near Chris Eubank Jr. Whether that changes in 48 hours, we’ll see but they cannot be anywhere near each other/
Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn Betting Odds
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- Chris Eubank Jr -
- Conor Benn -
- Draw -
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