Boxing’s ‘anti-hero’ Eubank hopes for father reconciliation

Parading in luxury designer finery, rubbing shoulders with A-list celebrities and playing poker with filthy-rich footballers – Chris Eubank Jr has never really marketed himself as a man of the people.

But, deep down, everybody wants to be liked, and the 35-year-old is no different.

“People say that ‘he’s been happy to play the bad guy’. I wasn’t happy about it,” Eubank says.

“I didn’t like getting booed into arenas for all these years. I don’t like waking up and going on my Instagram and seeing people saying ‘you’re going to get knocked out’ and ‘you’re not as good as your old man’.”

The Brighton boxer says he has learned to accept, even “relish”, the villain tag. In the build-up to Saturday’s fight with Conor Benn, however, the lines between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ guys have blurred.

Eubank will face his fellow Briton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in boxing’s latest grudge match – two and a half years after their cancelled bout because of Benn’s failed drugs tests.

Benn has since been cleared to fight and denies intentionally doping, but the scandal has tarnished his reputation. Consequently, it’s morphed Eubank into British boxing’s unlikely antihero.

“I don’t know what to expect. This could be the first fight in history where both guys in a mega fight get booed into an arena,” Eubank says.

“[But] however much of a bad guy I am, I didn’t cheat. I walked the hard path being that bad guy.”

While his public image may be improving, Eubank’s fractured relationship with his father, Chris Eubank Sr, has threatened to overshadow the fight.

“I’ve told him I want him there [on Saturday]. I’ve told him what it means to me, the public, to the fight fans,” Eubank says. “He doesn’t seem to care or he doesn’t seem to understand.”

As each day passes in fight week, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that Eubank Sr will attend Saturday’s fight.

He had been an ever-present at the start of his son’s career, but their relationship has become strained.

“It got to a stage where I realised for the public to be able to see who I was as a man and as a fighter, I had to step away from that huge figure,” Eubank says.

Barry Hearn said Eubank Sr, who he promoted for a number of years, was a “very strict disciplinarian as a father”.

“He said to me once ‘Bazza, how do you let your boy talk to you like that?” Hearn said.

“I said to him ‘your son has to be your friend as well, Chris’. I don’t think he ever bought into that.”

Eubank acknowledges the public interest in his life and is open to discussing issues far more important than boxing.

While he has forged a reputation of being a composed fighter, outside of the ring he has shown his emotions and vulnerability to the public, with his personal life tinged with tragedy over the past four years.

In 2021, his 29-year-old brother Sebastian died of a heart attack in Dubai. Eubank has become a father figure to his nephew, who was just a month old at the time.

Eubank Sr has labelled the Benn bout a “circus” because of the weight disparity; Benn is going up two divisions and Eubank is prohibited from rehydrating more than 10lb after the weigh-in.

“I think this fight once it’s over, there’s a possibility that things may be able to reconcile or there’s a possibility it will make our relationship even harder to rebuild,” Eubank Jr says.

As Eubank has stepped out of his father’s shadow, more of him as a man and fighter has emerged.

Eubank is quite the maverick, a boxer who never pinned himself down to one promoter or trainer for a significant length of time.

Recent outbursts have even landed him in legal bother and subsequent retractions.

“So many boxers and fighters get caught up in the treachery of the people that are in the industry,” he says, describing the sport as “shady”.

While he may have burnt bridges with influential boxing people down to a crisp, Eubank is perfectly capable of single-handedly promoting a fight.

Just like Chris Eubank Sr did with Nigel Benn during their rivalry in the 1990s, Jr – minus his father’s monocle and jodhpurs – seems to know which buttons will inflame an opponent.

He says that targeting Benn’s emotions is not a deliberate ploy, though.

“I’ve never thought I need to think of something that’s really going to get to Conor. I don’t care about Conor. I only care about me,” Eubank says.

Referencing the now-infamous incident when he slapped Benn across the face with an egg – which resulted in a £100,000 fine – Eubank feels he kept his composure.

“I had Nigel Benn’s hand wrapped around my neck at one point, but if you see my face, it’s like I’m walking down the street,” he says.

Eubank has proven his quality with wins over former world champions Arthur Abraham, James DeGale and Liam Smith. He has a lot to be proud of.

He is fully aware, however, that a defeat to Benn could end up defining his 14-year career.

“There’s so much at stake – respect, family, pride, money and my career. I said it, if I lose I retire. That is a horrible thing to say and to know but it’s the truth,” he says.

Evaluating Eubank’s boxing career depends on how you measure success.

In 37 fights, he is yet to capture a world title. He lost his only challenge for world honours to George Groves in 2018.

If he never becomes a world champion, is it a case of unfulfilled potential? Eubank has certainly shown he is capable enough.

As a commodity, though, Eubank remains one of British boxing’s biggest draws. He has sold out arenas and earned seven-figure paydays.

And he is not ready to give it all up just yet.

“I love being a fighter. I love training. I love competing. I love testing myself mentally and physically,” he says.