Less than an hour before taking the stage for the press conference to officially announce his fight with Chris Eubank Jnr, Conor Benn is debating the merits of remaining detached from the hostility the fight has generated or embracing the malice and using it as fuel.

“I wouldn't say I'm an aggressive guy,” Benn told The Ring.

“I mean, yeah, I'm definitely not that guy. You see me with my kids and my family or see me with my friends, I'm not that guy but I seem to just be able to flick into that as and when or when I feel like it.

“It's like, right now I don't feel like chinning Chris but when I'm on stage I might feel like chinning Chris so it depends on how I feel at the moment.”

Eubank would soon make Benn’s decision for him by cracking an egg on the side of his face as the two posed for a face-off.

Benn will step up to middleweight to take on Eubank Jnr in front of an expected 70,000 crowd at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 26th.

When it was first announced all the way back in the summer of 2022, Eubank Vs. Benn had an opportunistic, almost artificial feel to it. From the idea of two sons fighting almost 29 years to the day after their charismatic fathers, Chris Snr. and Nigel, met for the second time to the 157lb catchweight that Eubank agreed to boil himself down to, it was almost as if the fight was manufactured to give the public what they wanted.

The news that Benn had failed a pre-fight VADA test eventually caused the cancellation of the fight. News of a second failed test soon followed and so started over two years of vitriol and backbiting.

Eubank Vs. Benn was a unique attraction with an edge.

Chris Vs. Conor is a very different, very real affair.

“Definitely. I mean, we knew what we were doing,” Benn admits when talking about the first fight. “We knew the magnitude of the family, the magnitude of the names. The legacy. There was rivalry because we are still like our dads. I am still my father's son. He’s still his father's son but you play to it.

“Whereas this is definitely way more personal. Because of reasons behind the scenes that nobody is aware of apart from me, my team and his team which make it very personal. It's not a matter of its all fun and games, PR, etc.

“But this is way more personal than it was before.”

Benn has done a number of interviews since the whole saga started and has displayed the full gamut of emotions. He has appeared depressed, angry, frustrated, and defiant.

Strolling into a conference room in a pair of designer pyjamas, he appears anything but. After spending most of the last two and a half years in a bitter legal battle to clear his name, he is finally back on familiar ground.

The fight with Eubank Jnr will be Benn’s first in the UK since he blew Chris Van Heerden away inside a round back in April 2022. Considering he is walking directly back into the biggest, most controversial fight in British boxing and the resultant media storm he seems extremely relaxed.

“There was a lot that's gone on. I mean, you know, because you would have seen it so I'm happy I made it, to be honest,” he said.

“I'm definitely more relaxed now than then. Definitely.

“I mean, I'm cleared to do what I love. I feel like I was stripped of everything I love - I was stripped of everything - so for me to now be where I am is a testament to making it through and I'm happy that I'm here today.”

If there is one thing British sports fans love more than an underdog story it is a tale of redemption.

Over the years, many sports stars have wondered aloud as to why British fans don't truly take an athlete or team to their hearts until they have suffered a brave defeat or proven they are capable of overcoming real adversity, be it on the field, in the ring or in their private lives.

Fans identify with stars who publicly accept and battle their weaknesses, mistakes and failings and make it back to the top.

Despite his famous surname, Benn became the underdog who succeeded. He crossed over with fans who followed his transformation from a raw, aggressive novice into a genuine contender. They bought into his aggressive style and his ability to create a soundbite. All of a sudden, they were given a reason to doubt everything.

Benn may have struck many tones since the autumn of 2022 but has never been apologetic. From the moment the news of the positive tests broke, there have been no admissions or explanations. He has flatly denied any wrongdoing.

The stone cold fact of the matter is that Benn maintained his stance throughout a lengthy, convoluted legal process until he was exonerated and cleared to return to the ring but, still, the causes behind the failed tests and the subsequent reasons as to why he was cleared by the NADP [National Anti-Doping Panel] remain locked away behind confidentiality clauses and it is that lack of clarity leaves a verse missing from Benn’s own redemption song. It is hard for people to forget if they don’t know what they are forgiving.

Benn’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, understands that Benn will never change some minds and he thinks that realisation has also started to dawn on him.

“Yeah, I think he'll be the bad guy, I think he'll be the villain,” Hearn told The Ring.

“Some people will never change their opinion. Sometimes because those people have a chip on their shoulder, or they're bitter about something or some people just believe that he's guilty without really knowing. That's their opinion and you're never going to change all opinions

“But you can't really focus too much on that and I think that's one of the educations that he's been through as a person.

“I think Conor Benn always wanted to be a hero, like his dad. He wanted to be a fan favourite and I think one of the things that hurt him so much about this was that he's no longer a fan favourite. He don't want to be a villain, but tough s—t.

"If you have to be booed in there, you get booed in there, and that's life.

"People's opinion matters to him and I think what he's had to toughen up on over the years is not worrying as much about what people think because if you do, your nervous system is going to be out of control.

"You've got to be strong enough to say, ‘F—k everybody else. I'm in the toughest sport in the world. I'm doing this for myself, for my family, for my name, for my legacy and what people think of me, they will think of me.’

“And that's actually when you can live a peaceful life, when you're not actually worried about what people are saying about you.”

That won’t be an easy transition to make.

Eubank is accustomed to pulling on the black hat and relishes playing the villain. Benn has had to switch his mindset and accept that from this point on he will be fighting in front of people who will not only want him to lose but will also be casting doubt on his previous accomplishments and future performances.

Given the way the world works these days, it is difficult to tell whether Eubank’s decision to crack an egg in Benn’s face will make him more popular or swing public support back in Benn’s favour but until he hears that knock on the dressing room door and emerges from the tunnel into what will be a ferocious atmosphere, he won’t truly know.

Benn has said in previous interviews that there have been times over the past couple of years that he has regretted acting emotionally but has determined that - from hereon-in - he is going to continue being unapologetically himself.

“I've probably come out of this two years a lot more sure. I've probably come out of this two years a lot more confident,” he said.

“I've been called the worst thing in the past two years. You think I care what other people like me or not? No, the reality is, be in a world where you can be yourself.

“Say what you want to say. Imagine me living in a world and I can't say what I want to say out of fear of what other people might think of me? Bearing in mind, I don't even know them. Now that's entrapment.

“Imagine living in that world where you can't be yourself. Imagine living in a world where you can't say what you want to say.

“You think I'm going to just be neutral? Just be vanilla so people like me? If you don't like me, don’t like me. If you love me then love me, but love me for who I am. Not because of who I'm pretending to be for you guys commercially, from a PR perspective.

“But I am who I am and maybe the past two years - going through what I've gone through - has maybe got me to the stage where, do you know what? Think what you think. All that matters is my family.”