So viscerally brutal was the first fight between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr. 35 years ago that you could comfortably argue that their rematch was simply never going to be able to live up to it.

In some ways it did, but in the ring the second installment of this long-lasting, cross-generational rivalry did not quite hit the heights of the first.

Now all eyes turn to their fighting sons to see if they can repeat the trick after producing one of the Fights of the Year when they met for the first time in April. The unanimous decision victory for Chris Eubank Jr. over Conor Benn, via three scores of 116-112, moved his family’s record to 2-0-1 against the Benns.

The undefeated run started way back on November 18, 1990 when Eubank stopped Benn in the ninth round of a pulsating barnburner at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre to bring an emphatic close to a fight which had captured the imagination of the British sporting public.

Benn, with his WBO middleweight title gone, would go away and rebuild with a couple more fights at 160 pounds before heading up to super-middleweight. He won the WBC belt there in 1992 and made three successful defences before he would encounter Eubank again.

The man from Brighton, meanwhile, was still undefeated when the rematch rolled around. He had made three successful defences of the belt he won from Benn before also moving up to super-middleweight and becoming a two-weight world champion.

He had racked up seven straight victories at his new weight before the first blot on his copy book, a draw against Ray Close in the May of 1993. Then, five months later, he would get the chance to fight Benn again in one of the most eagerly awaited rematches in British boxing history.

Here were two men who had given their all in that first meeting and then gone away and won 10 times each, securing two world titles in the process. It meant that for the first time in boxing history, two reigning British world champions from any weight class would meet in a unification fight.

So, two years and 11 months on, the clans Benn and Eubank would do battle again. This time, the NEC in Birmingham would be too small - as would every other arena in the country. Instead they headed to Old Trafford, home to Manchester United, to fight in the centre of the pitch.

Around 42,000 punters filed into the Theatre of Dreams to watch the fight while a staggering British television audience of 16.5 million tuned in from their homes. There is every chance that is a number that will simply never be achieved again in this country.

But while it was still a great back-and-forth battle between a pair of two-weight world champions in their prime, it lacked the thrills and spills of the first fight. In the end, after a more attritional battle, the fight ended in a split draw after Eubank won 115-113 on one card and Benn 114-113 on another. The 114-114 returned by Chuck Hassett ensured these two would share the spoils.

A third fight was mooted but it never came and in the end the Manchester draw was a slightly strange conclusion to one of British sport’s most crackling rivalries. But, 30 years on, enter their eldest sons.

Neither has won a world title yet and, at the time of writing, they both remain well behind in the legacy stakes compared to their famous dads. However they now have the chance to outshine Eubank and Benn Sr. by matching, or even bettering the drama of their first fight.

What is in their favour is that there has been no marination at all. Neither man has boxed in the interim and there has been no change of weight or rebuilding jobs. In fact, the terms of the contract from the first to the second fight are identical.

That’s what makes this one unique and has provided the sons, united by the family feud generated by their dads, the chance to add a chapter of their own to this 35-year story.

So how can they do it?

The first fight was enthralling and, over the course of the 12 breathless rounds, both men had their moments. However, neither has admitted to being truly hurt by the other and there were no knockdowns across the 36 minutes.

They say the sign of a good fight is that the pendulum of control swings not once or twice but three times or more. Given the way the first fight, punctuated by the drama of Eubank Sr’s late arrival at the stadium, ebbed and flowed under the Tottenham night sky, this one could continue in that vein.

When the dads met for a second time, they both knew much more about each other and were perhaps more wary as a result. They were also more experienced and battle hardened given the best part of three more years campaigning.

That is not the same for Benn and Eubank the sons, although they will both arrive in north London on November 15 with a better understanding of what to expect. Before the first bell, Benn genuinely expected to see off Eubank within a few rounds while Eubank thought the much smaller Benn was not good enough or big enough to trouble him whatsoever.

Now they both know what they are in for and will have trained as such.

Of course, that could provide a similar story to the one at Old Trafford in 1993 or it could also feasibly produce the greatest fight between a Benn and a Eubank yet.

Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn II will headline "The Ring: Unfinished Business" and stream live on DAZN PPV from 12pm ET/5pm GMT.