Eubank Snr likens his boxing success to Chinese Olympic lifters and Joe Louis

Chris ‘English’ Eubank Sr. talks being a thoroughbred and how he mastered boxing!
June 26, 2020 By Dee Boulton 5 Comments



By Dee Boulton

Christopher Livingstone Eubank Senior, genetic freak extraordinaire, impresses as per usual this time with his theories regarding how he made it in boxing, his early relationship with a certain Mike Tyson, how he mastered boxing, and much more.

‘It works like this,’ said the former WBO middleweight and super-middle champ. ‘If you don’t have one hundred amateur fights or ten years as an amateur, international and so on, or aren’t naturally gifted with punching power and spatial awareness, then you can only make it to the top in boxing by being a thoroughbred; of which I was thanks to my slave-bred ancestry.

‘Think of the Chinese weightlifters. From the age of ten in China they all weight-lift for hours daily, filling all the halls, and the process is simply weening out the weak. Those with the genetics not to fall by the wayside remain, and pick up the medals for China.





‘The biggest talent pool for boxing was New York City in the eighties. They forced you to spar seven days a week, to ween out the weak. After three and a half years straight there, I was the last man standing. If it wasn’t for my manager Adonis Torres passing in 1987, I would’ve continued my career there as the golden boy. But as the saying goes: If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.

‘I came to the United Kingdom and there was this furnace of extreme talent at middleweight, hungry second generation Windrush. It was very scary. Michael Watson, Nigel Benn, Herol Graham, Rod Douglas, Johnny Melfah, Errol Christie – I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I had conviction and resolve however, a burning flame in the pit of my solar plexus; relentless training seven days a week, (and) streamlining the whole repertoire.

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Chris “English” Eubank Senior
‘It was about who was going to step up and be the man they said they were. I was resolute enough and had enough constitution and ability to be the last man standing, of which I was; making the United Kingdom the Mecca during the three and a half years Tyson was incarcerated.

‘When I visited Mike after the rematch with Benn, at the correctional facility, he told me there was no other fight he’d of been interested in being ringside for in boxing; but he wished he could of been ringside for that fight.’



Senior on meeting Tyson:

‘I remember Mike when he was 16, but first befriended him properly when I attended the grand opening of Versace on Madison Avenue the day before either my fight with Cronin or Contreras, one or the other, with baby Christopher; I had my contacts in New York.

‘I walked past Stallone to shake Mike’s hand and he held Junior. I had this quite stern attitude at 23, feeling actors represented a fakery and feeling Tyson was the realest deal. But regret not getting to meet Sly then too.’

Post-Watson:



‘Why did I continue to fight after Watson II? I had a wife and children and expensive mortgages, and didn’t know another way of life or job of work.

‘Plus, I had a talent. If you have a talent, what good is it if you don’t show it? They say nobody really moved like me; going both ways with what people might say was the grace of a ballet dancer, using pace control and able to posture or strut on the big stage when the pressure was cooking; cucumberic composure come crunch time.’

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Senior on Watson Fight:

‘The pressure going into Watson II was unbelievable. It was the peak of Fleet Street and they used their ink to portray me to an entire nation as something of which I was not.

‘I was made out to be a villain; a nasty, horrible, arrogant low-life. So if I lost the fight, I felt it would be believed forever that I was just that, and I was simply not. I was in fact the opposite.

‘Watson comes out to ‘Momma Say Knock You Out’. The pressure has just gone to another stratosphere, because I know for a fact his mother would never say that and would hope the other boy her son was fighting was okay.

‘And my whole thing had always been the resolve I had that I couldn’t be knocked out, I wouldn’t be knocked out. But imagine if he did, it was possible. And he nearly did, of course. It came down to who was going to step in and take the fight, in the end.’

Senior on OG Greatness:

‘When I was world champion, I took 36 hours off after a fight. That was it. Sparring was right up to the day before the fight, unless severely injured. I always fought injured in some manner because it would be impossible not to, being a full-contact sport.

‘I fought every seven weeks and trained seven days a week; twenty-eight fights in five and a half years from 1990 to September 1995, 95% of which 12-rounders, when I finally lost fair and square in my 47th bout.

‘That’s an average of six fights a year. Not one fight every six months. Not even the great Joe Louis was as active a world champion – effectively I stood on those broad shoulders of Joe Louis to see further than I could. I don’t think today’s champions would get past one fight, they’d likely lose to a top ten contender or mandatory challenger seven weeks after a 12-round world title win; I did it 20 times in a row.

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‘I was unrelenting in my task to keep breaking records and setting standards; always maintaining gentlemanly conduct, to push that to the youngsters and even the world at large, which was my passion, and still is.’




Looking on boxrec, his activity level from Jan 31st 1989 to when he announced his premature retirement in Oct 95 is INSANE! 37 fights! What the actual.... some fights eight days apart, some world title fights six weeks apart.

 

I never considered it a coincidence that Eubank's first, premature retirement from the ring came just days after that tragic death of James Murray (RIP) from injuries sustained in a British title fight

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theargus.co.uk/news/6797287.amp/

Tyson was intrigued by Eubank. John Solberg, a representative of his then manager Don King, revealed: "Mike said it was the most interesting two hours and 20 minutes he's had in a long time.

"I was told Mike couldn't get a word in edgeways. He was just fascinated by the guy."



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theargus.co.uk/news/6810742.amp/

Tyson said: "I know Chris very well and always liked talking to him as he is a very interesting person and wonderful guy. In my situation maybe I'm too poor to hang out with Chris. He's a very elite chap nowadays."
When it was pointed out that Eubank had his own financial concerns Tyson replied: "I don't think Chris can be like that, he's too great. He's not reckless like I am."

 

He certainly turned world boxing upside down. Half a billion in over 60 countries watched his bouts around 92/93/Benn Old Trafford/Rocky Germany.

Between 12 and 18 Mill on ITV alone for 15 fights, when the Grand National would average 17.5. Those Benn 1 and Watson 2 fights had genuinely scary atmospheres, in front of Henry Cooper ringside for radio saying he'd never seen wars like it etc.

On Star TV across Asia, only Foreman-Morrison was among Eubank fights in viewing figures.

 

https://www.boxing scene.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20625335&postcount=30


I sparred lots with Chris at Jerome boxing club in Nyc in the 80s when we were amateurs and we used to run around Yankee stadium after a sparr ,we'd go 15 rounds if a tournament was coming up we both entered because we were the only 2 at 156pndshe always gave my brother Richard Burton good work when Richard was preparing for pro fights.... Very funny guy who split between Brit,Mother tongue and Yank talk , he apparently went back home to continue his career nd popped up yrs later of course growing up to be Chris Eubank who I can tell you has plenty of fans in the Big apple MI-DEH-YAH-YUH-KNOW RAGGAMUFFIN - KICKUPRUMPUS bless up Chris
-052Burtonrobert

 

Name another boxer who can articulate like this -

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Nobody can get enough of the bloke anywhere, but he prefers to stay out of the eye these days.

Your mate might call Eubank a 'tosspot', but then sees the man in person and he's in awe. - most common occurance ever

 

A man who took advantage of a guy in the middle of a 'world tour' which was fighting eight times in 12 months. Eubank went through a whole camp for mandatory Ray Close set for Feb 11 '95 when Close had a brain scan before the fight and something showed up so BBBoC pulled him out, the Eubank-Collins bout was hastily put together for five weeks later. Eubank had sparred 150 rounds for Close III with Dean Francis and Cornelius Carr, and only fought Wharton just before Xmas!

Then there was the whole mind games crap. But physically, Eubank was jaded. The BBBoC had monitored Eubanks weight for Close III, so he was tired because he couldn't eat, then they continued monitoring it for Collins I a few weeks later; Andy Flute was bashing him right up in sparring before Collins I.

 

That second Watson fight wasn't normal, and is hidden for the outcome. When have we seen another fight like it, where one man totally dominates for 11 rounds, and one shot from the totally spent opponent (the HATED one) after getting up before the count of one does that kind of damage (how is that even possible!?). Ali-Frazier etc was great and legendary etc but this was just different and dark; the hate in the crowds eyes and indeed those of the packed pub I was in was Jesus-like persecutory.

 

Well the WBO was one of the four governing bodies from day one, half the WBA split and formed WBO. The IBO and WBU have never been a sanctioning body.

Manny Steward had had his issues with the WBA, so vowed his Kronk fighters would all fight for the WBO instead and try to make that the main title.

If ITV were billing it as a World Title for golden boy Benn and the NEC was selling out 12,000 tickets at the box office at £75 a head in 1990 (despite it being live on free TV), then so be it; to Eubank (a non-boxing fan remember) it was a world title. And really the top 10 list contained the same fighters as WBC/WBA/IBF, they were all the same. If anything WBC was most corrupt, and still is!