1990-1991 Middleweight Chris Eubank: Best Of British?

I think ApatheticLeader is pretty right on most of this. Whilst Eubank did have a few really good performances, there were also fights which showed massive vulnerabilities. How many fights did he just not turn up in? I think we'd all agree too many, so I don't consider him to be the best non-heavyweight since Conteh.

Focusing just on his good performances, you could make that case, but when you look at his entire career, there are too many mediocre showings from him. He was limited, no doubt.

 

Mike McCullum, Sumbu Kalambay, Ayub Kabule and Herol Graham were world class fighters. The rest of the British contingent, including Watson, were a level or two below.

 

Because it's too short a prime to look at. I'm not saying considering Eubank in his first three fights and then his last few when he was done, but you need to look at a longer period of his career than that. Calzaghe in 2005-6 had wins which were almost flawless but it's obviously too short a peak to look at and, to judge him as a fighter, you need to look beyond that to assess his skills properly.

 

You're right about McCullum being above the rest, and possibly about Kalambay. Eubank and Watson are very clearly a level below Graham and Kabule.

 

Graham was just elusive and unorthodox. He didn't have very good technique or power. Late in fights he'd look absolutely awful, but just be too awkward for his British/Commonwealth opponents. Kalambay and McCallum were streets ahead of him in terms of being skilled technical operators. Their fights were close, but Graham couldn't stand with a world-class two-eyed opponent and out-time and out-react him, and hurt him. He'd be on his bike or grabbing you and turning you, switching his stances, arm-punching from amateurish angles, etc.

How can you say Watson wasn't on his level when he beat better ranked fighters than Graham (in Lee and Benn), dried up Kalule aside (which was about Herol's 40th fight anyway!). Eubank knocked Graham cold in sparring when he was 13-0, if he wasn't even on his level it wouldn't of happened.

 

Ricky Stackhouse talking to Harry Carpenter thought Watson would beat Graham.

 

Infact, I rate Kalambay as the most skilled technical operator since a peak Joe Louis.

 

Eubank fought a world championship fight every six weeks for five years, unheard of since Joe Louis. Joe Calzaghe by comparison fought once or twice a year for 10 years, so he was always fresh going into a fight. Eubank was always going to have occasional poor showings with his unique scheduling and frightening weight-loss techniques.

If you took away 1/3 of his fights, say the poorer ones, would you rate him higher (consider his best performances came against Watson (1), Benn (1), Rocchi, Thornton etc anyway-the best fighters)? Calzaghe, for example, wasn't even fighting in the times Eubank was back in the ring.

 

Are you really going to include a sparring anecdote to show who is a superior fighter? Often performance in defeat show more than a victory.

 

About 80% of people that revere Eubank call him Eubanks. What's your point?