“It is not a reasonable business. You get damaged, you get disfigured, you get used. You’re partaking in a tragic form of entertainment.” Is how former world Middleweight and Super Middleweight boxing Champion Chris Eubank viewed the sport in which he made his name.
Eubank was regarded as an eccentric during his career. He spoke with a lisp and in an affected upper-class tone, dressed as a stereotypically upper-class Englishman, often in jodhpurs, bowler hat and riding boots and sporting a monocle. He also carried a silver-tipped cane. He was perceived as arrogant and became a target for Britain’s tabloid press. He did however win in 1991 and 1993 Britain’s Best Dressed Man award, given by the Menswear Association of Great Britain. In 1993 and 1995 he won the Daily Express Best Dressed Sportsman award and in 1998 and 2001, the Gold Tie Pin Award. More recently in a poll published by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Eubank was voted the second most eccentric star (after Björk). He was what you might call different, or an acquired taste, but his views on his sport were clear.
It would appear that despite such strong views on boxing he has had little influence on his son Chris junior, or has he?. Chris junior recently achieved his 14th successive victory in the same weight division as his father. However his pouting and posturing is not winning him many friends. Eubank senior’s second son Sebastian is also following in the fight game, albeit it still as an amateur, and recently fought at the England ABA Championships.
Chris junior despite a promising start to his professional career has just switched promoters and has signed up with Frank Warren, a move many believe was prompted by his dad. That news many feel could end in acrimony as Chris senior was branded “a nightmare” and “impossible to work with,” in his fighting days. Certainly interesting times ahead in the Eubank family and just how much the boys listen to their dad.
