Chris Eubank Jr has made an emotional plea to his father Chris Eubank Sr – calling for his dad to return to his corner ahead of his potential fight with Conor Benn next year.
For years, the former two-weight world champion and father of four, was a central figure in his son’s career – a constant presence in the gym, in the ring, and at press conferences.
However, Eubank Snr has not appeared in his son’s corner since 2019 and sparked controversy by agreeing with those who called his son ‘charlatan’ after last year’s knockout defeat by Liam Smith.
Eubank Jr is hoping his father will return to his side when he takes on Benn – with a potential bout earmarked for May after Turki Alalshikh declared his interest in the fight following Eubank Jr’s victory over Kamil Szeremeta.
Eubank Jr says it’s important for his father to be involved in the fight – which was originally due to take place in 2022 before Benn’s failed drugs test – given the fact their intense rivalry stems from their father’s epic bout during the 1990s.
Chris Eubank Jr has made an emotional plea to his father Chris Eubank Sr – calling for his dad to return to his corner ahead of his potential fight with Conor Benn next year
For years, former boxing great Eubank Snr (pictured above, right) had been a central figure in his son’s career – a constant presence in the gym, in the ring, and at press conferences
However, Eubank Snr has not appeared in his son’s corner since 2019 and made headlines by agreeing with those who called the 34-year-old a ‘charlatan’ after his defeat by Liam Smith
The fight been Eubank Jr and Benn is looking more likely than ever after Benn’s doping suspension was lifted earlier this month – with the National Anti-Doping Panel saying they were ‘not comfortably satisfied’ that UK Anti-Doping had proved Benn committed a violation of the rules.
However, the proposed fight with Benn has been a major friction point in their relationship due to his father’s concerns over weight management and associated health risks.
Speaking to iFL TV about his father, Eubank Jr said: ‘Him not being part of my boxing career didn’t go down well. For so many years as you know, he was always right next to me or he was in front of me. That was just who he was. That was just a part of his thing.
‘So, you take that away – which I did and which I had to do – and I guess he couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t handle it. Or he didn’t want to accept it. So, that affected our relationship on a personal level. On a father and son level. Which it shouldn’t.
‘This is a business. This is a career. It shouldn’t affect the father and son relationship. But, he doesn’t know how to and he can’t separate the two. So I feel like it’s going to take me retiring and walking away from the sport for him to mentally connect with me again.
‘Once the Conor Benn fight is made, I’ll send another text and I will tell him, I want you by my side. I want you by my side dad. This is history. This is going to be the biggest fight in the UK – possibly ever. We should be in it together.’
Speaking to Mail Sport about his relationship with his father in September, Eubank Jr said: ‘My dad and I are in a weird and somewhat strange place in our lives at the moment,’ Eubank Jnr tells Mail Sport.
‘It’s very hard to go through an entire career being with your old man, and then to not have him around anymore in terms of the boxing side of things. I just felt that that’s what I needed.’
Eubank Jr dominated Kamil Szeremeta as he forced a seventh round stoppage in Saudi Arabia
Conor Benn, right, stormed the ring and confronted Eubank Jr with Neymar in the middle
Turki Alalshikh (pictured above) has revealed their grudge match is tentatively set for May
He went on to add: ‘I think this situation will probably continue for a while. I think it will take me retiring for us to be able to kind of just become father and son, because at the moment, he can’t separate business and boxing from just being my dad.
‘I said to him I don’t need advice. I don’t need a coach. I don’t need a mentor. I just need a dad. But, he can’t do that. He’s still trying to figure that dynamic out, so I’ve just got to let him go, let him do his thing.’
Eubank Jr holds no hostility towards his father. Instead he has expressed his disappointment in those exploiting his father’s mental state and clarified to Mail Sport that their estrangement is not about rejecting his support but about his own natural desire for independence.
‘I felt like I wanted to – and I would say this to him as well – make my own decisions. My career couldn’t be controlled by my father anymore,’ he said. ‘I’m going to write a book one day and the book can’t be everything that my dad said I should do, I did. I’ve got to find out my own path and I’ve got to make my own choices. I’ve got to write my own future.’
‘He guided me, he helped me. He stuck by me through the early stages. But as an adult now, I’m confident enough to make my own choices. Whether it be for good or for worse I need to do it,’ Eubank Jnr says.
‘If I succeed, great. If I fail, it’s still great, because it was on me. I can’t fail because of something I did that someone else told me to do. I wasn’t going to give him that power or that pressure.
‘I wanted everything to be on me. As a man, I think that’s fair. But that was hard for him to hear because throughout my whole life, he’s always been there. He’s always been the one kind of controlling me and telling me what to do, and I would follow. So, that’s been hard for him to deal with. That mindset, what I was saying and I wanted to proceed with things. He struggled with that.’
