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Chris Eubank Jr spurred over the line against Conor Benn by the presence of his father
Chris Eubank Jr revealed that the desire to show how capable he is to his father – and the world – got him over the line in his grueling battle with Conor Benn.
30 years on from the last bout in the legendary rivalry between their fathers Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, Eubank Jr edged a unanimous decision victory over Benn at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of April.
The clash more than lived up to the hype generated in the build-up, with the pair giving it their all after years of trash talking an inter-family rivalry. Such was the damage sustained by Eubank Jr that the victor was whisked off to hospital, where he spent days under the watchful eye of doctors.
Eubank Jr, who stated that the main concern behind his hospital stay was dehydration after boiling down and having his weight limited by a rehydration clause, recently spoke of his experience of the bout on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast.
Badly cut from the seventh round onwards, Eubank Jr somehow dug deep to reach the distance, whilst producing enough late on to preserve his scorecard lead.
Explaining his thought process, Eubank Jr said: “I wasn't willing to go the rest of my life knowing that I didn't give it my all, regardless of the cut, regardless of everything I was going through, I knew I just I had to do what I had to do to win.
“And my old man's there he's watching. He didn't believe I'll be able to do what I'm doing, he's been saying that for years.
“I've got to show him, I've got to show the world, I've got to show myself that I'm capable of great things, of going through things that 99.999% of human beings on this earth were not willing to go through, and that will live forever.”
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The risk and punishment was clearly worth the reward for Eubank Jr, who believes the subsequent high he has enjoyed could not be bought.
“And that's a beautiful feeling,” he restarted. “A week after the fight, sitting here talking about it, there's no amount of money that can buy the feelings that I have now, and that is the genuine truth, how proud I am of what we achieved in that fight.
“It's priceless. It's something that you know on your deathbed in 60 years’ time you're thinking about it, ‘Yeah, I did that.’
“You can't get that from money. You can't get that from fame. YOU get that from years and years and years of graft, hard work and just being true, not cutting corners, not cheating. By not being a bully.”
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Aside from an enthralling encounter inside the ring that captured the attention of the British public, the surprise appearance of Eubank Sr during Next Gen’s arrival provoked an emotional response both inside the arena, and on social media.
The Eubanks had been estranged for some years, with Senior lambasting the fight – and his son – in the build-up to the bout, labelling the event as dangerous due to the difference in weight classes and the limit on rehydration for his son.
However, Eubank Jr revealed how a last-minute message from his father led to the public rekindling.
He continued: “I knew how hard it was for him to send me that text of ‘Call me when you see this’, because he doesn't do that. It's been years since he tried to have that contact with me.
“So I think if I just ignored it, then we wouldn't be sitting here talking about this amazing event that has unfolded. Because, make no mistake, him being there made it different. It made it something that will now go down in history. Movies are made about this type of stuff.
“If I go in there alone, it's just a fight, which would have been a great fight still, but to have that fantasy of a father and son coming together after going through so much, my brother passing away, all the stuff in the media, all the friction. To see that be able to be put to one side and to unite, to walk into that ring, it's an incredible thing. I get emotional thinking about it, because it was so unexpected.
“I had envisioned in my mind for the last two years, me walking to that ring alone. It never crossed my mind that my old man will be behind me. I envisioned walking to the ring alone, being booed, and getting into that ring and fighting with anger in my heart, that’s what I thought that fight was going to be. What it turned out to be was, I'm walking to the ring, my old man is behind me, and for the first time in my whole career, I'm walking through a crowd and there's no boos.”
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