Nearly 35 years after his father made it 1-0 against the Benns, Chris Eubank Jr maintained his family’s undefeated record with a unanimous decision against Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Eubank Jr dropped to his knees as the decision was read out, with all three ringside judges scoring it by the same 116-112 scoreline in the main event of The Ring’s first ever fight card.

This was always much more than a boxing match, with a rivalry steeped in the history of these feuding dynasties of British boxing. November 18, 1990 was when Eubank Sr drew first blood with a ninth round stoppage of Nigel Benn before they drew the rematch outdoors at Old Trafford in October 1993.

Young Conor had vowed to settle the score on behalf of his dad by jumping up two weight classes in order to beat Junior and chalk up a victory for his family. But he was denied by the stoic son of Chris at a different Premier League football stadium.

Make no mistake, these were 12 hard rounds for both men in a fight that crossed not only generations but also weight classes. Eubank Jr, drained down to 160lb and then held at 170lb fight morning weight by a contractual rehydration clause clearly felt the effects, guzzling water seconds before his ringwalk. Benn, meanwhile, carried his extra poundage for only the second full 12-round distance of his career.

Both hurt at times, both visibly exhausted in certain moments of the fight and, on the basis of their refusal to buckle, both a credit to their family names.

At around 8:30pm, there had been an instantly iconic moment in modern British boxing, as Eubank Sr first arrived at the stadium. As he got out of the car, his son emerged from around the side of the vehicle to be reunited with his father.

Eubank Jr had revealed this week that the pair have not spoken properly for years. His father had also labelled his son’s decision to hit Benn with an egg during one of their face-offs a ‘disgrace’ and insisted he would not be part of the event. Somewhere along the line, though, he had a change of heart.

When the video of the moment was shown on the big screens inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a cheer went up as if Spurs had just scored a last-minute winner. In an instant, the stage was finally set.

Shortly afterwards, in the bowels of the stadium, Billy Joe Saunders was prevented from entering the Eubank changing rooms to inspect the hand-wrapping process. As revealed by The Ring this week, Conor Benn had made contact with the two-weight world champion, one of Eubank Jr’s most bitter rivals, so he could ask him to head into his opponent’s changing rooms in an obvious attempt to unsettle him.

But Eubank’s security, headed by hulking manager Elliot Amoakoh aka Napper, blocked the door and refused to let him in, causing a melee picked up by a number of broadcasters at the scene.

It was just the latest vignette in the long-running Eubank-Benn feud, started by their famous fathers, who both won world titles at middle and super-middleweight. The sons had been first scheduled to meet in October 2022 only for Benn to fail two VADA tests, forcing the cancellation of the encounter during fight week.

But two and half years on, they finally met here in the main event of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which took place at a sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the most anticipated fight in Britain this year.

The excitement levels inside the packed stadium had reached fever pitch by the time the two fighters emerged. First came Benn, to a chorus of boos, flanked by his father Nigel to the same ‘Dangerous’ track the Dark Destroyer used to walk to. Moments later, Eubank followed, with Tina Turner’s Simply the Best, synonymous with Chris Sr, ringing around the stadium.

There was rapturous applause for the two dads when they were introduced by Michael Buffer but then it was finally over to their offspring for the third clash between these two famous fighting families.

They were straight down to business, with Eubank firing out a hard double jab and Benn attempting amn early left hook. Eubank, who missed the middleweight limit by less than an ounce at Friday’s weigh-in, appeared to settle better of the pair. But Benn did manage to find a home for his right hand with 30 seconds left of a frenetic opening round.

The size different was notable between Benn, who has spent most of his 23-fight career at welterweight, and Eubank Jr, who has flitted between 160 and 168lbs. Eubank was therefore using his jab to good effect throughout the second to keep Benn at bay, but the 28-year-old came very close with a number of his trademark slashy, arcing shots which had helped him secure 14 KOs before tonight.

Benn seemed to have Eubank hurt early in the third with a hard left hook, which forced Eubank to hold. But he did so with a smirk and talked in Benn’s ear as they were pulled apart by referee Victor Loughlin. Benn finished the round by landing a thudding short right hand but Eubank held it well.

Chants of ‘Eubank’ went up around the stadium as he landed a right uppercut which snapped Benn’s head back. The pair seemed in almost constant conversation throughout the round, which ended with another good jab from Eubank.

As they rose from their stools at the start of the fifth, they were already talking to each other and referee Loughlin brought them together and told them to hold their tongues and get on with the fighting. After such a fast start, Benn’s pace noticeably dropped in the fifth and Eubank took advantage by re-establishing his jab and controlling the distance.

Early in the seventh, another right uppercut fro Eubank landed and he followed it moments later with a left hook as he began to turn the screw. Benn, perhaps feeling the effects of being his heaviest ever, was struggling to see the attacks coming much less move out the way of them. Nigel Benn, at ringside, simply told his son to ‘stop f***ing about’.

And he heeded that advice in a huge eighth round, during which he hurt Eubank with a right hand just behind the ear and then continued to apply the pressure until the final bell. Eubank looked hurt and appeared to unravelling but up he stayed.

By now it was Eubank who looked tired and static and to make matters worse he sustained a cut above his right eye from a clash of heads in the ninth which immediately seemed to bother him. Eubank, never lacking toughness and heart, stood and traded throughout an action packed 10th and ended the round pinning Benn against the ropes and unloading with hooks with both hands.

The 11th was pure action as they stood head-to-head in centre ring and traded although the fatigue for both was evident. But Eubank, from somewhere, found a second wind in the 12th and surged through the gears in search of a stoppage. Midway through the round, Benn looked on the brink of defeat as a series of Eubank hooks found the target, snapping his head from side to side. Somehow, he held on.

A swing and a miss from Eubank provided a split second of respite for Benn, who finished the fight still swinging. Almost immediately, the dads were in the ring too.

“This was because of you,” Conor told Chris Sr. “So thank you.”