Chris Eubank Sr does a lengthy in-depth interview with iFL TV to discuss his thoughts on nephew Harlem Eubank trying to make his rise, while also touching on his split with son Chris Eubank Jr and while he’ll never reach his full potential unless he comes back to him. Check out some of what he had to say below.
Eubank Sr on pushing Harlem towards a big fight against Conor Benn
“The point is Connor Benn is talking about he wants to go conquer the world. Well, first you have to get past someone because to date you haven’t gotten past anyone of note, and if it is of note, I don’t know of that person.
“(Benn) has his father’s name, he has a promoter that’s pushing him and giving him a position which I don’t know that he’s earned that position…the only undefeated Eubank is the correct fight, and it’s the right weight.”
If he’s still adamantly opposed to Eubank Jr fighting Benn
“I’ve always been against the fight, that’s why the fight didn’t happen. I’ve said it enough times but people don’t seem to believe me…I know the boss. Who’s the boss? That’s not for you to know and you’ll never find out, but I know the boss. And that’s why that fight didn’t happen.”
On if Eubank Jr is seeking money fights or chasing a world title
“It’s two different things. And if he’s still chasing money then it’s all smoke and mirrors. If he wants to be a champion, if he wants to win the hearts of the people, that’s fighting Canelo. That’s the only person out there now that could be his saving grace.
“Canelo beats my son, in my view. The only way he gets past Canelo is if I am helping him, because I know.”
On why he’s no longer involved in Eubank Jr’s career
“He is his own manager. He asked me to leave. He said, you know, ‘Dad, I want to do it my way now.’ This was about three years ago. So the time you would’ve heard him say ‘my dad seems to have gone missing’…it was around that time. I didn’t go missing, he said ‘I’m the boss, I want to do it my way now.’
“Well if you’re the boss, and I’m a boss, then we have to split because I am the boss. A son cannot be a boss over his dad. That would make one of us a moron, and I’m not a moron. So obviously I moved and done and went and did the things that I was doing. And I thank him for taking the bull by the horns because now he can see how not just difficult, how impossible it is to be in this game and rise without a man like me.
“It’s not ego, it’s my experience. My experience put him in a place he could never have got to, and my love and my advice is still there for him. But like I said…all he has to do is have the humility to come and ask. I’m no longer volunteering. I volunteered all my life, or all his life, for him. No more volunteering. You have to come now and ask. That’s the only way he gets past Canelo.
“And he has a bright future financially in front of him if he comes back home. I’m home. He’s out there with the wolves and I know they’re wolves. How do I know? I’ve contested against them, all of them.
“Ask Barry Hearn. Who do you think Barry Hearn into Sky? 1994, eight fight deal. I brought him into Sky. From that Barry was able to do his darts, his fishing, and all the other sports he got involved with. Matchroom is mine.
“At the time you had a Frank Warren, you had Mickey Duff, you had these other — let’s call them ‘gangs’. And someone had to come out on top. It’s never the promoters, it’s the fighters. ‘What fighter do you have?’ And Barry had me, and I’m the one that put him on top of the world and brought him into Sky.
“I’m not bigging myself up, I’m just saying this is the way it happened. That’s why Matchroom is what it is today.”
On if he applauds Eubank Jr for trying to be his own man
“Applaud it? I’d have to be a fool to applaud it. When you walk away from your dad it means you’re not thinking. Or it means you’re being steered away from your dad. Being your own man is always staying under the umbrella of your dad, always staying under the umbrella of someone.
“In boxing you’ve heard me say I’m GOAT, but I’m not under my own umbrella. Mike Tyson is above me, Sugar Ray Leonard is above me, Marvin Hagler is above me…if (Junior) stay under me you’re going to make more money than Floyd Mayweather Jr. Now that sounds like ‘oh, well he’s just talking.’ Junior, think on it…what have I said to you that’s been wrong? I don’t get in wrong, not in boxing.”