Chris Eubank, SR: Boxing King or Boxing Court Jester?

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Opinion is divided. Was he an absolute genius or is he a complete clown? What is undeniable is that he was one of the most controversial figures to ever grace a ring and he was one of the most powerful when he punched you in the face.

During the 1990’s the British super middleweight scene was the envy of the world and Chris Eubank, SR. 45-5-2, 23 KO’s, was undeniably one of its princes. Whether he was a crowning glory or the ultimate clown prince was debated long into the night, but very few wanted to ever face him and argue the point with him; mainly because he would have talked to you for hours as a result.

His career ran professionally for 13 years, from 1985 to 1998, and at one time he was the WBO middleweight and then super middleweight title holder. For over five years he was a world champion and for the first ten years of his professional career nobody beat him – at middleweight nobody defeated him at all.

Alongside Nigel Benn, 42-5-1, 35 KO’s, Michael Watson, 25-4-1, 21 KO’s, and Joe Calzaghe, 46-0, 32 KO’s, he was the pinnacle of the sport at super middleweight and he sat above most as one of the bravest and most brutal in the sport. For that we admired and indulged what were his obvious eccentricities.

His early life was spent in and around poverty and temptation. His obsession became the sport that was to lift him and his future family out of the areas in which many others were faltering. It was to give him a lifestyle that made others envious but for which he worked incredibly hard. It included early years in Jamaica, time spent getting expelled from school in London before getting sent to live in New York with his mother and calling the South Bronx his home and his springboard as he slavishly attended the gym and dragged himself from the surrounding of drugs and petty crime to the level of achieving the 1984 Spanish Golden Gloves title.

He was only 19 when he became a professional and if his feet were firmly planted in the rubbish of his past, his head was way up in clouds that cleared to provide a golden future. Eubank, SR. was already seeing who he wanted in his sights as he settled back in England and made sleepy seaside Brighton his base, he prepared to pounce.

As Eubank, SR. was beginning to get noticed his progress was in the shadow of the biggest rising star we had in boxing, Mr Nigel Benn. Benn was the man that Eubank, SR. saw as the one to beat, more importantly he became the one that he believed he could beat.
In much the same way that we have seen his son, Chris Eubank, JR. target Gennady Golovkin because he firmly does believe that he can beat him, Chris Eubank, SR. looked at the biggest name imaginable of the time and thought, I know I can beat him.
His mission was one from which he would not be strayed and in 1990 he entered a ring and after a massively brutal battle he stopped Benn in round 9. Benn had been ahead – only just – on points but what mattered was that Eubank, SR. was now the world WBO champion and Benn was left with the tag of being an ex champ.

Eubank, SR. defended his middleweight title twice – both against British fighters – including his first contest against the fantastic Michael Watson. Winning both before moving up to super middleweight meant that he was undefeated professionally as a middleweight before he embarked upon winning a second world title at a second weight.

His second fight against Michael Watson was his chance to become a two weight world champion and Eubank, SR. was once again behind on the score cards before he was able to stop Watson in the 12th round. Eubank, SR. had had to come off the floor to stop Watson and what followed has obliterated the memory of how much of a fantastic fight it had been.

Watson collapsed, the delay in receiving medical attention led to a 40 day coma and his brain injuries, his subsequent court case against the British Boxing Board of Control saw him receive millions for his future care and change the way that medical personnel are now mandatory at the side of British rings. As we know it did not prevent all tragedies, but it has aided the safety of boxers when they have been fighting.

Having beaten Watson for a second time, the utter devastation he left made him think about giving up the sport that he loved and had given him riches but had taken away so much from a man he admired as a boxer. He and his family had to eat though, and he carried on.
The public wanted one thing – him to fight Nigel Benn again.

In 1993, now the WBC super-middleweight champion, Benn agreed to put his title on the line against Eubank, SR. as Eubank, SR. put his WBO title on the same line. Don King, was the guy who had put the contracts together in such a way that win or lose he would have the rights to both boxers. The draw was probably the first time that Don King was outmanoeuvred as Barry Hearn went on to sign both fighters after their fight and help Eubank, SR. defend the title for years to come including a $10 Million Sky deal to fight throughout the world.
The two fights with Watson and the two fights with Benn made Eubank. SR.’s name in the UK. He was s strutting peacock, jumping over the ropes and into the ring to prance and pounce on his opponents. His son has the same arrogance and the same presence. The British public like a villain. Senior still plays the part well.

Nigel Benn has been keen to see a third fight and Eubank, SR. has been as coy in those negotiations as he has been over his son’s contracts with big names like Golovkin. There is a massive appetite for that third fight but now in their 50’s and though still supreme specimens it is hard to see how we would feel if one of them did not make it home safely. It might tarnish them physically, but it would also blemish our memories of them as well as leave a sour taste in the mouth. I, for one, hope it never happens, as the memories allow me to argue over who or what was the greatest fighter or moment from a time that was a golden one for British boxing.

The question we are asking right now, with the current British crop of super middleweights is, are we seeing yet another golden era and is it as good as the 1990’s? Only time shall tell… and those of us with keyboards shall claim it…

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