Next Gen, 36, was soundly defeated by The Destroyer, 29, via unanimous decision earlier this month, and Shalom has admitted Eubank Jr. under-performed badly in front of fans - a far cry from his fight with Benn in April 2025.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Shalom said: “That was not Chris Eubank Jr in the ring … I think anyone with any sort of brain can see that wasn’t Eubank Jr., he was a shell of himself.

“I think he threw 30 per cent of the punches that he threw in the first fight. He was finished, he was done, he didn’t even have the energy to fight back.”

Benn dominated the fight, flooring Eubank Jr. twice in the final round, who looked sluggish throughout the bout.

Shalom said he did not want to “make excuses”, but implied Next Gen was physically unfit for a fight of this scale.

He said: “I don't want to make excuses because at the end of the day, a lot of fans paid a lot of money to go and see that fight and what an event it was.

“But Chris was not in the state he should have been to have a fight like that.”

When pressed on whether Eubank Jr. was dealing with health issues at the time of the fight, Shalom refused to answer.

He said: “That is for him to talk about. All I'll say is that he knew, and we knew on the day that he was not right.

“We knew it was going to be a tough ask to see the Chris Eubank Jr. that we all know, to even see the Chris Eubank Jr. of the first fight, which wasn't his best performance either.

“Personally, I was in awe of the way he got into the ring and gave everything that he could, but it was under extremely testing circumstances.”

There have been suggestions the problem may stem from Eubank Jr.’s recent weight-cut struggles and the bout’s rehydration clause.

Following their first fight, Eubank Jr needed hospital treatment after severe dehydration.

Asked whether a health condition affected performance this time, Shalom declined to comment.

He said: “Listen, I am not going to go there, I am not going to comment on it.”

Shalom also criticised the use of rehydration clauses in boxing contracts, and argued they put fighters at risk - claiming “the clause in particular is something that shouldn’t exist in boxing”.

He added: “There are doctors who will tell you that. I think the Board should get across that now.

“I think it should be outlawed from British boxing completely, and one day that could go wrong, and there will be people to answer for it.

“It's up to a fighter what weight they want to make, but of course, I would like to see him at 168lbs.”