‘Disgraceful’: The sad Eubank family feud between legendary boxing dad and son explained

Chris Eubank, the father, hates what boxing is doing to his boy.

While Chris Eubank, the ageing great … well, he appears to hate what his boy is doing to boxing.

Which, if nothing else, continues the wonderfully muddled history of fighting fathers and their sons.

Eubank Jr vs Benn | SUN 27 APRIL 5AM AEST | Two British boxing dynasties in the ring once again. 30 years of rivalry and hatred runs in their blood. | Order now on DAZN

Indeed, of all the headlines surrounding this Sunday’s British blockbuster involving Chris Eubank Jr, undeniably the biggest has to be the impending absence of the 35-year-old’s legendary father of the same name.

Which is no small thing.

Especially given the main reason for him even throwing down against hyped countryman Conor Benn – an undefeated welterweight moving up two divisions to make it all happen – is the history between their famed fathers in the 1990s.

Regarded as two of England’s best, Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn threw down twice in world title slobberknockers over 30 years ago – with the former winning one, before the second fight finished with both men retaining belts in a split decision draw.

As far as fights go, both were crackers.

And it was on the back of this rivalry, initially, that Sunday’s headliner was made.

Yet now only days out from the fight however, and Eubank Sr wants no part of it.

Of course, boxing history is already piled high with rocky relationships between famous fathers and their sons, and the Eubanks are no strangers when it comes to their own version of fighting family dysfunction.

Yet rarely, if ever, have things exploded so publicly.

In fact, the closer his son’s showdown with Benn gets, the louder the retired star is complaining about it taking place.

And not just for one reason, either.

Equally, the old man seems pissed with both his son’s antics during the build – which has included smashing an egg in the face of Benn – and a raft of issues surrounding weight that the retired great has likened to “murder”.

Amid a raft of interviews across various platforms and mastheads, Eubank Sr has branded his son “disgraceful”, demanded his boxing licence be revoked, accused him of “making a mockery” of the sweet science and even warned he is risking his life for the whims of a promoter.

And on that last one undeniably, it is the voice of a father.

Given Benn is coming up two weight classes for the middleweight bout, both men have agreed to a second weigh-in on the morning of the fight – with neither able to hit the scales more than 10 pounds heavier.

Adding further concern for Eubank Sr is the fact his son’s best performances have come inside the super middleweight division – yet this fight will take place a division lower after initially, in 2022, they even tried for a 157lbs catchweight.

Already, Eubank Jrr has revealed this week that if he breaks his word, and comes in over the second agreed weight limit, he will be fined upwards of $1 million.

Yet despite his father now making plenty of noise about all this – which isn’t without public support — the estrangement between the Eubanks dates back all the way to 2019, which is the last time dad was seen in the corner of his superstar son.

Speaking with Piers Morgan in March, Eubank Jr suggested the separation was due, initially, to the fighter wanting to walk “my own path”, with things then worsening following the shock passing of his brother Sebastian at 29 from a heart attack, and shortly after becoming a father.

“That affected him in a deep way,” the fighter said of his father’s reaction to the 2021 tragedy.

“It affected all of us.

“Mental health is a real thing.

“That incident, coupled with the fact that we were already not seeing eye-to-eye, destroyed a large part of the relationship.

“And it still doesn’t seem to have recovered.”

Elsewhere, the middleweight champ also explained that their separation he started two years earlier, sometime after his super middleweight world title loss to George Groves.

“My old man was always next to me, and it got to a stage where I decided that I needed to walk my own path,” he said.

“He was not happy with that decision. That’s the start of it.”

Certainly, the divide between the two men has never seemed wider than this week.

In various interviews, the old man has branded the egg incident – a response to suggestions Benn’s previous drug positives were the result of eating too many – as “disgraceful” and stressed “there is no justification for that”.

Eubank Jr vs Benn | SUN 27 APRIL 5AM AEST | Two British boxing dynasties in the ring once again. 30 years of rivalry and hatred runs in their blood. | Order now on DAZN

Speaking with The Ring about the egg incident, Eubank Sr said: “Where did that come from?

“I was extremely disappointed by the incident at the press conference, [and] his choice to use profanity.

“Such behaviour does not reflect the conduct I have instilled in him.

“The Eubank legacy is built on discipline, respect, and professionalism, and this incident falls short of those values.

“Junior has been taught that the warrior’s path is one of honour and integrity.

“Such actions that he chose to take at the press conference undermine the very essence of what it means to be a warrior.”

But as a father, undeniably, the biggest concern is the weight for Sunday’s showdown and clauses behind it.

Choking back tears during an interview with The Sun this week, Eubank snr panned the decision of both fighters to move up and down for the bout while also speaking about the fate of his late, older brother Simon – who lost 20 fights, won only seven, and passed away aged just 61.

“My son probably walks around at around 180lb and he has to boil himself down to 160lb,” he said.

“People don’t understand what it means for Junior to get down to 160lb, at his age.

“They don’t understand the drying out.

“I know what that feels like … I know about the damage it does.

“I am more concerned about that than anything else.

“And that is why I have spoken about people trying to murder my boy by boiling him down to 157lb.

“Trying to boil my son down to 157lb a few years ago, would have killed him.

“You might think the word ‘killed’ is a bit strong but my brother is dead from boxing.

“He lost his life from boxing, with frontal lobe dementia.

“In the end, (son) Harlem was feeding him with a baby bottle, he had to feed his own father.”

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During the same interview, Eubank Sr was asked about his late son Sebastian, and if the pair now sharing the responsibility of raising his son, Reheem, could help end the rift?

“I would be in my son’s corner if he was fighting at the right weight,” he said.

“But it mocks everything I stand for and fought for.

“I am a dad. I am a protector, I am trying to steer him in the right direction.

“I am not giving him any bad or wrong advice.

“I am giving him the truth and what works and what will age well.

“I am his dad and the fact he has chosen not to listen means all I can do is step back and watch the car crash – because it will be a car crash.

“He doesn’t understand that this is boxing and you lose your faculties, this is dangerous.

“I warned him three years ago not to do this and now it’s the same again.”

In interviews with both Morgan, and before that Ariel Helwani, Eubank Jr has stressed he still wants dad to be ringside for the fight, saying: “The fact that I even have to say that is insane.

“How is that even a thing?

“His son is gonna fight the son of his arch-nemesis, [from] all those years ago when he was a world champion.

“How is it a thing that he may not be there?”

But as for if he will?

“I honestly don’t know,” he told Morgan.

“I hope and I pray that he is, and I will do things to try and get him there.

“But if he isn’t, guess what? I’m still gonna go out there and do the job.

“He needs to be able to get over whatever demons he’s fighting.

“Now, this fight is either gonna enable him to get over those demons or unfortunately it’s gonna make those demons grow. I don’t know.”