Eubank Sr on Herol Graham sparring KO story (!)

"I sparred with Herol Graham for six weeks around October 1986, and in our last eight-rounder, I put him on his back in the first round with a left hook off a right hand feint, then he got up and outboxed me for four and a half rounds before I put him on his bottom with a right uppercut off a left hook feint, and then he outboxed me for a further two rounds.

"The man was an expert defensive genius. It took me a month and a half to, uhh.... figure him out, so to speak. I had watched him on Television on a Barry McGuigan undercard and reached his manager Barney Eastwood through my brother Peter.

"In New York, I thought I'd seen it all. Certainly not. Watching the sparring were future champions Naseem Hamed, Johnny Nelson and Ryan Rhodes and I remember it clearly, the look of utter astonishment when their hero went down for the first time ever."

 

There was time for a parting shot at Naseem Hamed, who shares top billing with Eubank in Manchester.

"I've known him since he was an 11-year-old kid and he always was mischievous," said Eubank.

[url]http://www.thefreelibrary.com/SIMPLY+THE+BEAST%3B+Hermit+Eubank+gets+set+for+his+toughest+fight.-a060649280[/url]

 

IT'S [url]April Fool's Day[/url] on [url]Bodmin Moor[/url] Bodmin Moor.

"I haven't been near my wife for a month. I haven't even seen a woman for a month," says [url]Chris Eubank[/url] Chris Eubank (born Christopher Livingstone Eubanks on August 8 1966) is a boxing legend and British celebrity who held the WBO Middleweight and Super Middleweight titles. .

"I tell you what - if YOU put on some lipstick I'd feel warm towards you!"



Remembering the date, I nervously passed this off as a joke. Not that there was much time [url]to dwell on[/url].

After four weeks locked away amid the [url]splendid isolation[/url] Britain's most eccentric sportsman had a lot of talking to catch up on.

"I'm starting to believe I am the [url]Beast of Bodmin[/url] The Beast of Bodmin. I feel like a [url]hermit[/url] hermit," says Eubank, who has taken himself 150 miles and a world away from his beloved Brighton to prepare for his greatest challenge.

'Simply the Beast' steps up to cruiserweight - a stone and a half heavier than his usual super-middleweight - to face [url]WBO[/url]WBO World Boxing Organization world champion Carl Thompson in Manchester on Saturday week.

 

Defeat will almost certainly signal the end of one of boxing's most controversial chapters. And many people have written him off already. "But I've been in many a war when I was an underdog," he says. "The only way you get into the legendary ranks is when you do what the critics say you can't.

"Of course I feel some fear. I'm a human being pretending to be pure steel. Thompson's greatest asset is his weight, but he's not as technically skilled as I am.

"When I fought Joe Calzaghe five months ago I took the fight at 11 days' notice because I underestimated him. I thought I could beat him on heart alone. This time I'm here to show my skill and technique as well as my heart."

That's fighting talk from a man who has told us so often how much he hates "this barbaric sport." Yet Eubank makes the remarkable admission: "Deep down, I realise now how much this game means to me.

"The reason I grew to hate it is because I was fighting far too much - 21 world title fights in less than five years. I was back in the gym two days after a fight. I realise now that too much of anything will sicken you.

"But I'd love to be champion again. That's why I'm here where the only thing I can do is work. It's hard, it's tough. I get up every morning and run through the forest in the cold and rain.

"Sure there are times when I wonder what I'm doing here. Life at home is wonderful and I miss it. Here even my mobile phone won't work.

"I have to walk up to the hills every night, smelling the manure, with only the sheep and the lambs for company so I can use my mobile to phone home.

"No wonder I'm edgy. But I'll be ready for a war when I've finished my six weeks here."

Eubank the philosopher always has his little black book for company. It contains the preachings of Friederic Nietzsche, a 19th Century German philosopher who was also much admired by Adolf Hitler.

"But Hitler interpreted the meanings the wrong way," explains Eubank, who also plans to visit South Africa soon "to talk to the kids there about the values of dignity and being well behaved. The same kind of thing I do with kids over here.

"I met Nelson Mandela a couple of years ago at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The first thing he said was: 'Chris, it's an honour to meet you.' Okay, that's ridiculous. But my immediate reaction was: 'That's why you are as great as you are.' Because he possesses real humility. That's what greatness really is."

There was time for a parting shot at Naseem Hamed, who shares top billing with Eubank in Manchester.

"I've known him since he was an 11-year-old kid and he always was mischievous," said Eubank.

"But he was a nice kid - and he still is as long as the cameras aren't there. But every time the cameras are about he shows off.

"He called me a fraud and claimed I copied his tricks, which bothered me. Then he said my nostrils are too big, I'm ugly. It's so childish.

"I could talk about the size of his ears or his height. But I won't stoop to that level.

"It annoys me rather than hurts me, especially when I tried to guide him. He's apologised to me in private - but I've told him the only apology I'll accept is one made in front of the cameras."

Then it was off to dinner for Chris, an event he can now anticipate with relish.

"Fighting at this weight means I can eat and drink what I want.

"I have three dinners a day. I have dinner for breakfast," he says.

"And I drink pineapple juice by the litre. It sure beats two days of drying out and half a glass of water like I've had to suffer for 50 fights."

 

Oh dear.