Chris Eubank Jnr dismissed the significance of him failing to make weight for his fight on Saturday with Conor Benn after they came face to face for the final time at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in. 

Eubank Jnr confirmed that he had been fined $500,000 for coming in at 0.5 ounces over the agreed weight of 160lbs – which is three pounds above that which they had agreed to fight at in October 2022 – on Friday morning.

That fight was eventually cancelled when it transpired that Benn had failed two drugs tests, but that development and the time since then has intensified their rivalry, which will finally be tested at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

A rehydration clause stipulates that they cannot weigh more than 170lbs when they return to the scales on Saturday morning. The 28-year-old Benn was 156lbs 4oz.

Apparently permanently stoic, Eubank Jnr, 35, regardless looked healthier than he had in footage he posted to social media earlier on Friday, when he had still been attempting to make weight, and he said: “It is what it is. If they’re going to take half-a-million off me for being 0.05lbs off of the limit, then that’s just what it is. That’s the people that Eddie Hearn and Matchroom and Benn are. 

“At the end of the day weights have no relevance to what happens tomorrow night. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to stop this guy.

“He’s in for a hell of a surprise. He thinks he’s going to go out there and hop, skip and a step and a right hand, as he says. He has no idea the pain that is in store for him.

“The rehydration clause is still in place, so I have to watch what I eat. I have to watch what I drink. But all these things are set up to distract; to displace; to try and get me off of track. None of it will work.”

It was tempting, when watching and listening to Benn, to conclude that he had been particularly heartened by his rival’s struggles with the scales. He also, perhaps revealingly given he had already spoken on Wednesday of his plans to return to welterweight after Saturday's contest, again described himself as a “147lbs fighter”.

“It’s an expensive price to pay, innit?” he said. “But it is discipline, so he should have made the weight. He’s made the weight his whole career. He’s expecting a little bit of sympathy but he ain’t got no sympathy round here. 

“It’s a weight I feel comfortable at. I’m not a 160 fighter. I’m not a 154 fighter. I’m at 147 fighter. I’m going to go in there and use my speed; my explosiveness; my ferocity. It’s the way I fight, and that’s not at 160.

“I dunno if I’m supposed to look scared or intimidated. I’m neither. I’m just looking forward to Saturday night. We’re here now, and I plan on giving the fans the fight they want.

“I’ll admit what I’m there to do. I’m there to get the job done and get the stoppage. I’m coming in to take his head clean off.”

The cruiserweight Brandon Glanton had introduced a further low to a promotion undermined by them since the start of the week of the original fight date when on Thursday he threatened to give his opponent Chris Billam-Smith “brain damage”.

He predicted a knockout of Billam-Smith on Friday, but apologised when he said: “Previously I said some things that weren’t so favourable to the public, so for that – the comments I made about brain damage – I was wrong for that. I get emotional. 

“It’s the biggest fight of my career. You say things; things happen; months training. Everybody please forgive those comments I made.”

Billam-Smith, in turn, was asked about what Glanton had said, and he simply responded: “No. He’s learning, and he’ll learn more on Saturday.”

Full weights

Twelve rounds, middleweight 

Chris Eubank Jr (160lbs 0.5oz) vs Conor Benn (156lbs 4oz)

Twelve rounds, cruiserweight 

Chris Billam-Smith (199lbs) vs Brandon Glanton (199lbs 5oz)

Twelve rounds, middleweight 

Liam Smith (160lbs) vs Aaron McKenna (159lbs 7oz) 

Twelve rounds, light heavyweight

Anthony Yarde (174lbs 2oz) vs Lyndon Arthur (174lbs 6oz)

Twelve rounds, British cruiserweight title 

Cheavon Clarke (198lbs 7oz) vs Viddal Riley (199lbs 2oz)