Chris Eubank concerned for the safety of his son
Former WBO middleweight champion Chris Eubank has told William Hill’s podcast, Up Front with Simon Jordan, that Chris Eubank Jr. no longer possesses the same ‘explosivity’ or ‘punch resistance’ as he did in his fight with Nick Blackwell back in 2016.
Featuring on William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan, a podcast hosted by the former Crystal Palace owner who speaks to sports stars and celebrities and challenges their opinions whilst scrutinising their careers, Eubank said: “When you look at Junior’s age, he’s 34, and you look at his past performance, and compare that to how he fought against Nick Blackwell, he simply doesn’t have that explosivity anymore, he doesn’t have the punch resistance that he once had – so I will not allow him to fight at 160lbs again, Junior is to stay at 168lbs.”
Addressing his son’s weight cuts directly, Eubank said: “Junior, when it comes to money, you will see the money, and only the money. Whatever it’ll cost you to get that money, it will cost you. You will have to sign away to get that money, but let me tell you, it doesn’t work that way. You will get seriously damaged. And if you don’t, somebody else will. The rules need to be followed, not just for your sake, but for the sake of other fighters who don’t know.”
Leave Chris Eubank Jr. alone!
Continuing the conversation on his son, Eubank urged people to ‘”leave him alone”, with regards to some people in the industry wanting Eubank Jr. to fluctuate his weight to make different fights.
“Junior walks around now at about 12st6lbs which is about 174lbs. Now, imagine him coming down to 160, which is what these numpties wanted originally, they wanted 157lbs which would have been attempted murder,” he said. “You saw him at 159lbs on the scale, emaciated, so it means he can’t get down to 160lbs now without being in a position where he doesn’t have punch resistance. I am only protecting my son.
“Leave Christopher Eubank Jr. alone. Leave him alone. Weights fight weights. 147lbs fights 147lbs. Leave Junior alone, let him go and fight out the rest of his career. All the money that you’re making him look at, leave him alone. Weights fight weights and he is no exception to that rule. You’re not numpties, so stop acting like you are!”
Tyson Fury and Billy Joe Saunders were ‘goading’ Eubank Jr. before Blackwell fight
Eubank also referenced the moment during Eubank Jr.’s fight against Nick Blackwell in which he entered the ring and told his son, “you’re not going to take him out to the face, take him out to the body” after Blackwell had received an onslaught of blows to the head.
“I didn’t tell Junior to stop punching Blackwell in the face,” said Eubank. “But I know what can happen and I saw that the referee, for whatever reason, didn’t stop the fight when he clearly should have two rounds earlier – he certainly should have stopped it in the seventh round.
“Tyson Fury and Billy Joe Saunders were goading Junior before the fight, they came into the changing rooms, and I don’t blame them because they’re a tight-knit community, but this is what ignited Junior to put on a performance that you have not seen produced since. If you look at Junior in that fight, he would have beaten anyone on the planet.”
Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/@UpFrontWithSimonJordan
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