Chris Eubank Sr has had his say following the postponement – and potential cancellation – of his son’s fight with Conor Benn.
The hype train was steaming ahead when news broke that Benn had been found to have a banned substance in his system. Despite Chris Eubank Jr being willing to fight on as planned, the event was pulled from the schedule.
Eubank Sr never believed the fight should be taking place in the first place. Despite his wishes being ultimately fulfilled, he still believes that his son should have listened to him before the decision was made. The British boxing legend spoke the The Fight Is Right podcast in wake of the postponement.
“I made it very clear three months ago that this fight isn’t going to happen because he is my son. I’ve got to protect him. People are attempting to murder that boy – and it’s clear to me, but it’s not to anybody else. If you are a fighter – if you have lived the life of a fighter, if you know what it is to lose weight – my son’s been protected and I’ve brought him up good in boxing, but he doesn’t want to listen, he wants to be the boss.”
“I’ve done nothing but gift this young man. A career, a name, a face, the respect that I garnered from all those years, those 24 world championship fights. Never mind the wins, just look at the losses. Look at the man that I had to be. And then what? I’m going to have my boy tell me how to do this? He’s going to tell me he’s boss? He just doesn’t appreciate how good things have always been.”
Senior went on to talk about role models, believing that the path carved by one fighter in particular has had a detrimental effect on his boy.
“You’ve got people that you aspire to be like. He [Junior] picked Floyd Mayweather Jr, because he shows the bling, he shows the money, he shows the girls. I admire the man – he is a brilliant and fabulous fighter, I admire him as a fighter. As a man, don’t talk to me about him. Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali – they’re men. They lead by example. You’re teaching my boy to be a bling bling kid. He’s looking up to you, Mr Mayweather. No. And so that’s why he didn’t listen. And now, the world is looking at him as though he’s a greedy little pig – and I tried to keep him away from that, but he wouldn’t listen.”
It seems there’s still some work to be done to get to the father and son back to the place they once were, as a feud with the Benn family that dates back to the 1990s continues to cause rifts.