Chris Eubank Jr on his brother’s death: ‘I took the role of a father figure for Raheem’
Exclusive interview: The former world champion addresses his return to the ring and his unique responsibility outside of it
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Eubank Jr’s life changed irreversibly in 2021, when his younger brother Sebastian died. That tragedy, jarringly set against the tranquil backdrop of a beach in Dubai, was far from the first in the Eubank fighting family. It not only left Chris Jr without a brother, but his legendary father with one son fewer, and Raheem – just one month old at the time – without a dad.
At least, at first. In the fallout of the 29-year-old Sebastian’s passing, Eubank Jr recognised a rare responsibility. “I took the role, I guess, of a father figure for Raheem,” he tells The Independent, sinking into a sofa in the corner of a boxing gym in his hometown of Brighton. “It opens your eyes to certain things. You experience certain emotions when you’re around kids that... I haven’t really had as part of my life, ever.
“He’s like my son,” Eubank Jr adds, before swiftly amending his statement. “He is my son.” It is uncannily similar to what Chris Sr said about his nephew Harlem last year, when Sr’s brother Simon died. Eubank Jr continues: “It’s a special feeling being around him, and it makes me think about having my own kid, giving him a brother, raising them together. It’s enjoying that new side of life.”
Eubank Jr, who turns 35 next month, is not only discussing life outside of boxing but life after boxing. That is not to say the former super-middleweight world champion is pining for the next phase of life, though. That phase may call to him, but Saudi adviser Turki Al-Sheikh has also lured the former super-middleweight world champion to step into the ring in the Middle East.
Eubank Jr is set for his first fight in a year as he boxes Kamil Szeremeta in Riyadh in October, on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol’s long-awaited, undisputed-title clash with Artur Beterbiev. For Eubank Jr, that fight will not only represent a chance to build on last September’s stoppage of Liam Smith, a vengeful performance from the Brighton boxer after his loss to the Liverpudlian earlier that year; Eubank Jr’s match-up with Szeremeta also marks an important entry into the Saudi sphere, increasing the likelihood of the big-name bouts that he has long craved.
In 2022, a unique contest with Conor Benn – the son of his own father’s great rival, Nigel Benn – fell through at the 11th hour, when it was revealed that Conor had failed a drug test. This year, there were talks about Eubank Jr fighting the face of boxing, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, but they were nothing more than talks.
“I’ve been dealing with it my whole life, these things rarely go to plan,” he says. “You’ve got to be mentally tough to deal with it and not get sidetracked, disheartened or take days off – even when you don’t have a fight date. I’ve always been that type of guy. But we’re through all that now; we’re gonna have fun.
“I’m hungry. This is not a walkover by any means, but it’s a fight I’m supposed to win. There will be a little bit of ring rust, but I think this is the perfect type of opponent to get into the ring with after a year away – to introduce myself to that Saudi contingency and put on a show for Turki. It puts me in a great position to get those mega-fights.”
Eubank Jr’s last performance was a clinical one amid immense pressure. At Manchester’s AO Arena, the 34-year-old outboxed Smith and stopped him in round 10, eight months after a nightmarish outing in the same venue, when Smith stopped Eubank Jr in round four.
“I had a lot of pressure on me in my last fight – it was do or die,” Eubank Jr says. “If I lost, some people would say that was the end of my career, so my whole mindset throughout that year was stressful. I’ve kind of kept to myself since, trained, travelled, lived life.” The Briton is referring to a year spent living in Dubai and Las Vegas, before his recent return to the UK, where he will partake in a London fight camp for the first time.
“I’m ready to get back under that pressure again,” he continues. “It’s the start of my final chapter, I would say. I want to make it as big and bright as possible. If you live a responsible lifestyle, you can be effective in the ring up until your late thirties, so that’s what I’m expecting.
“Then, there’s no real reason for me to stay in the sport. You’ve got the financial side, but my goal is to make the kind of money over the next few years to where I won’t have to come back. So many fighters run out of money, then at an old age they try to squeeze a little more out of the sport. I don’t think I’ll ever be in that space.
“For me, it’s about locking in these last few big fights, because there are a lot of names that I need to get in there with and beat. Once that’s done, I’ll be satisfied, but I’m nowhere near that now. There’s too much left for me to achieve.”
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