Chris Eubank Jr opens up on being 'hated' ahead of Conor Benn fight

has insisted he 'loves' the haters and is fully prepared to receive a frosty reception ahead of his showdown with .

The 35-year-old is set to finally go head-to-head with his long-time rival - with the fight scheduled to take place on April 26 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The pair were scheduled to originally fight back in 2022, but the dust-up was scrapped just days before fight night .

Eubank Jr comes into the mouthwatering showdown off the back of a brutal knockout win over Kamil Szeremeta last October, while Benn defeated Peter Dobson on points in his last outing. Since the fight was finally confirmed, both men have exchanged verbal jabs on multiple occasions.

During the launch press conference in Manchester, Eubank Jr sparked chaos after . Over the years, the son of boxing legend Chris Eubank Sr has become accustomed to being the 'bad guy.'

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As for Benn, the young star has never been booed into an arena, but has faced some stick on social media since his failed test scandal three years ago. Many are intrigued to see how Benn will deal with the potential hostility on fight night. Eubank Jr himself has opened up about the stick he's received over the years.

Speaking on the , he said: "I've been the bad guy for many, many years. I said it in that first [Benn] press conference: I've been booed into every single UK fight against the UK fighter for the last 11 years. So being a good guy, having the support that a lot of fighters have or want, that dream kind of faded away for me a long time ago. I expect to be booed into Tottenham Hotspur [stadium for the Benn fight] because I've been booed into every arena [I've fought in].

"Leading up to this fight [with Benn], I don't see why it would change. I thought maybe after my fight against Liam Smith, getting booed into that arena twice, going back in there after the first fight, avenging that defeat when everybody said I was finished, everybody said I was washed up, [and I] won the fight, was respectful, shook everybody's hands, didn't didn't do any of the trash talk, I thought, 'OK, well, surely now I'm going to get some support, be the good guy [or] whatever you want to call it.'

"Then I go to vs. [] at Wembley Stadium, 80,000 people. I walk into that stadium, I come up on the screen, my face comes up on the screen as I'm walking in, and the entire stadium boos me. Even after after a career-best performance. The interesting thing about this fight is that there will be two bad guys walking into that stadium on April 26. It could be the first mega-fight where both fighters are getting booed into the arena."

The 35-year-old is interested to see how his foe will deal with the pressure and all of the eyes on him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what promises to be a historic night of boxing. "It's fun, I enjoy it," Eubank said of the animosity he receives from fans. "I love the haters. I love the doubters. I love getting booed into arenas and drinks flying and seeing that anger in people's eyes. I kind of feed off of that energy now, as sick as that sounds. So it's OK [for me], but Conor does not. That's the big difference. Conor is a completely different animal to me. Conor, he used to be the golden boy. Everyone was behind him. Everyone supported him. Everyone wanted to see him become the next big thing. And now he has an army of haters, just like me.

"The first time I got booed into an arena was against Billy Joe Saunders 11 years ago, and it was a dark, harrowing experience," Eubank added. "And it's happened [in] every single fight ever since. It takes a lot of getting used to. Conor Benn is not there yet, he's never had that. So it's going to be very interesting to see how it affects who he is in that ring on the night."