Chris Eubank Sr has praised his son for ‘navigating’ the ‘quagmire’ of boxing, despite Eubank Jr having slapped Conor Benn with an egg last month.
On 26 April, Eubank Jr and Benn are due to clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, more than 30 years after Eubank Sr and Conor’s father Nigel fought each other for the final time. In 1990, Eubank Sr beat Nigel Benn; in 1993, the British legends fought to a draw.
While the fathers’ rivalry was storied, Eubank Jr and Conor Benn have forged their own grudge, which led the former to slap his rival in the face with an egg last month. That press-conference stunt was a reference to Benn’s two failed drug tests in 2022, which derailed a planned bout with Eubank Jr that year, and which the WBC said could have been caused by “elevated consumption of eggs”.
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On social media on Wednesday (12 March), Eubank Sr addressed the incident, for which Eubank Jr was fined £100,000 this week.
“If I would excuse Jr’s misconduct because he is my son, then I wouldn’t be fit to be the authority in boxing that I am!” Eubank Sr wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
In an attached video, the 58-year-old said: “Where did that come from? You know, I’m supposed to be his example. Christopher Livingstone Eubank Jr is remarkable to have actually navigated this quagmire.
“He said: ‘Dad, people aren’t like you. What you’re about is not what boxing is about today.’ He said: ‘These people swearing and being rude, this is normal to me. The world you knew, dad, doesn’t exist anymore.’
“To which I said: ‘Help me! Help me, because we are Great Britain – that’s who we are.’”
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It is unclear when Eubank Sr and Jr had the conversation in question, given Jr this week opened up on the rift between them.
Eubank Jr said on Piers Morgan Uncensored: “It got to a stage where I needed to step out of the shadow completely […] He was not happy with that decision. That’s the start of it.
Chris Eubank Jr slapping Conor Benn with an egg (Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
Eubank Jr and his father, boxing icon Chris Sr (Getty Images)
“Then you have the situation with my brother passing away. That affected him in a deep way – it affected all of us. Mental health is a real thing. That incident, coupled with the fact that we were already not seeing eye to eye, destroyed a large part of the relationship. And it still doesn’t seem to have recovered.
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“Of course [I’ve reached out]. No, no he hasn’t [rebuffed me]. He needs to be able to get over whatever demons he’s fighting. Now, this fight is either gonna enable him to get over those demons or unfortunately it’s gonna make those demons grow. I don’t know.
“I still hope he’s there on the night, just like [Benn’s] old man will be. I honestly don’t know. I hope and I pray that he is [there], and I will do things to try and get him there. But if he isn’t, guess what? I’m still gonna go out there and do the job.”
In 2021, Eubank Jr’s brother Sebastian was found dead on a beach in Dubai aged 29. In 2023, Eubank Sr’s brother Simon died aged 63. Eubank Sr has since taken on a role on the team of Harlem Eubank – his nephew, son of the late Simon Eubank.
