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Exclusive: Chris Eubank Jr. was told to go on viral press conference rant claims cousin Harlem

Written by Tom Eaton on 10th October 2024.

Chris Eubank Jr

Chris Eubank Jr. made headlines recently for launching a scathing rant at the press conference for Artur Beterbiev’s undisputed light-heavyweight showdown with Dmitry Bivol. However, his cousin, Harlem, has now revealed the real reason behind the middleweight contender’s ruthless verbal attack.

Eubank Jr. is scheduled to appear on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard against Kamil Szeremeta (22-2-2) on Saturday night as he hopes to edge closer towards a world title shot against Janibek Alimkhanuly or possibly Hamzah Sheeraz.

Yet, at the press conference for the event last month, the focus of Eubank Jr. did not appear to be on his opponent. Instead, the 35-year-old gunned for British promoters Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and Kalle Sauerland, labelling each of them as ‘scumbags’ in the viral clip whilst explaining why he has signed with Ben Shalom’s BOXXER.

“Why BOXXER? Because every other promoter out here is scumbag.

“He [Frank Warren] sued me for a couple of hundred thousand a few years ago, so obviously I’d never go back to him. Scumbag.

“Kalle Sauerland, kept me in a terrible contract for several years. Scumbag.

“Eddie Hearn and Frank Smith tried everything they could to make this Conor Benn fight. So yes, scumbags.

“The only one who isn’t [a scumbag] is Turki Al-Alshikh. This is a man who isn’t trying to take money from fighters and use lawyers and accountants in slave contracts.”

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Understandably, each of targeted promoters were outraged at the comments but none more so than Frank Warren, who threatened to take a legal course of action once again.

Soon after, Eubank Jr. released a statement and apologised for his words – with that apology being accepted by Warren.

“Following today’s press conference for the historic Riyadh Season event on October 12th, I would like to retract my inaccurate statements and offer my apologies to Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn and Kalle Sauerland. I now wish to focus purely on boxing and preparing for a huge fight in Riyadh next month.”

However, rising welterweight contender and cousin of Chris, Harlem Eubank, today exclusively told Boxing Social that this rant was one that was planned by Eubank Jr. and others, rather than one that was off of the cuff, explaining that someone gave him the ‘green light’ beforehand.

“Chris is always going to speak his mind, whatever he thinks. He is always happy to speak his mind and I think Ben [Shalom] had a hard week the week before in the AJ fight build-up, and I think that Jr. came to the rescue.

“Chris is one of them people that is happy to express his views, especially if given the green light to do so.”

Whoever it was that encouraged Eubank Jr. to cause a stir will certainly be pleased with the outcome, but the former IBO middleweight world champion will be hoping that his speech did not cause too much of a distraction, and that he can still get the job done against Szeremeta on Saturday night.

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