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Chris Eubank Jr: I Was Paid $**** For The Fight! The Night Before, My Dad Finally Opened Up!
01:48:43
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- [00:00]
Chris Eubank Jr.
You're the first person I've really spoken to about this type of stuff. I was in hospital after the fight. I'm lying there, I've got my mask on, thinking, this is so bad. Get me the morphine, get me the morphine. I've got my family around me. Some of them are crying. I can hear everything that's going on. And then I hear the doctor say from the other room, we have to operate on him now, otherwise he's going to die. Chris Eubank Junior.
- [00:24]
Conor Benn
Chris, you haven't really spoken since that 12th round with Conor. How do you rate your own performance?
- [00:30]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I was technically sound for the first, second, seven rounds, but once the cut came, I was experiencing all the things that had been restricting me leading up to the fight. And I can hear my trainer, gotta use the jab, Chris. Lose your feet. I looked at him, I said, I'm sorry, it's too late. Because I always knew there would be fights like this where you don't have anything left, or you want to give up or you're hurt, but you have to fight through the demons, the issues, the restrictions. Because I wasn't willing to go the rest of my life knowing that I didn't give it my all. That lives with you forever. So the technicality of the sport was out the window. We are going to war.
- [01:07]
Conor Benn
Was Connor faster than you were expecting?
- [01:08]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yep.
- [01:09]
Conor Benn
Was he stronger than you were expecting?
- [01:10]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yep. But it was about who wants it more. My old man's there. I've got to show him I'm capable of great things. You know, we have been estranged for.
- [01:18]
Conor Benn
Years, but what caused that relationship to strain?
- [01:21]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I sent him a letter and that broke him. You know, I get emotional thinking about this.
- [01:27]
Conor Benn
What did that letter say? Quick one. Before we get back to this episode, just give me 30 seconds of your time. Two things I wanted to say. The first thing is a huge thank you for listening and tuning into the show week after week means the world to all of us. And this really is a dream that we absolutely never had and couldn't have imagined getting to this place. But secondly, it's a dream where we feel like we're only just getting started. And if you enjoy what we do here, Please join the 24% of people that listen to this podcast regularly and follow us on this app. Here's a promise I'm going to make to you. I'm going to do everything in my power to make this show as good as I can now and into the future. We're going to deliver the guests that you want me to speak to. And we're going to continue to keep doing all of the things you love about this show. Thank you. Thank you so much. Back to the episode. Chris, you haven't really spoken since the fight, especially not in. In long form. So I guess the best place to start is just by asking you how you're feeling. That was pretty fucking crazy.
- [02:31]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Fucking crazy is pretty accurate. Yeah, it was. It was a fight that, I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting to be involved in. I genuinely thought that I was gonna go in there, I was going to have my way with this kid, blow him out of the water, you know, watch him quit, watch him crumble under the pressure. That's really what I thought was going to happen. And thank God that I was wrong, because if that had happened, it would not be a fight that is now going to be remembered for ever. This is what I'm being told. This is what I'm hearing. This is what I'm seeing. This is the best fight I've saw. This is the best event I ever saw. This was amazing. For a fight to reach that level of love and respect, both fighters have to go through the fire. Both fighters have to do things that it may seem superhuman, may seem, like, impossible. They have to go through that. They have to be true, and they cannot give up. And that's what we both showed on that night. Two men who were willing to die in that ring. That's what boxing is really about. And it's so rare to see these days. You know, we just saw over the weekend some of the best fighters on the planet right now. Devin Haney, Canelo, Ryan Garcia. You know, their fights were underwhelming, to say the least.
- [04:38]
Conor Benn
Boring.
- [04:39]
Chris Eubank Jr.
In those three fights, the total amount of punches landed was less than just the fight with me and Conor. So the fight with me and Connor, I think we landed maybe 1500 punches in their three fights. In total, only 1400 landed, which is a pretty incredible statistic. And it just shows you how much that fight meant to both of us. You know, it showed the pressure and the grit and the determination and the stakes. So I'm blessed to be a part of such a historic fight, a historic event, and I'm very grateful that the fans loved it so much. Everything I've heard about it so far has been amazing. And I went out into the streets for the first time yesterday in Brixton, and to see the people's reactions for the first time, to really see it, you know, it really. It really. It really means a lot. You know, I had a woman. A woman came up and she was crying, you know, she was. She had tears in her eyes, like, you know, it's amazing what you did. You know, that fight superseded what boxing is, you know, because it was, you know, even. Even outside of what we did in that ring, the father and son dynamic, that was real. And that's something that, you know, the entire world can relate to and has to deal with their own problems with their families. So to see me and my father going through what we were going through and then to come together to unite at a time when it meant the most, that's an amazing thing. And nobody thought it was going to happen. I didn't think it was going to happen. So seeing that, you know, that's not boxing, you know, that is. That's love.
- [06:39]
Conor Benn
You know, going back to the top of that, you said that you were expecting to walk in there and blow Conor away. So does that mean that you, in hindsight, underestimated his ability? Or was there something not quite right with you that night? Because I was watching, I was ringside, and you didn't look normal, especially in those opening rounds. You had the same dog in you that you've always had, but you didn't look normal.
- [07:14]
Chris Eubank Jr.
You're very observant. There are a lot of things going on in my life that no one knows about and no one will ever know about. You know, as a fighter, you have to do things that nobody else could imagine doing and no one else is willing to do. I did that to be able to get into the ring that night. You also have the navigation of weight loss, rehydration, restrictions. These are all things that I was having to deal with. On top of all the outside stuff, what you saw was maybe, yes, there was maybe certain aspects of me as an athlete that, you know, weren't 100%. But the truth of it is, so many fighters go into fights with issues, whether it's injuries, whether it's illness, whether it's mental problems. We all have to fight through these things. That's a part of the sport. Which is why I'm not going to sit here and tell you about all the things that I was dealing with, because it's my job. We are fighters. You have to fight through the demons, you have to fight through the issues, you have to fight through the restrictions. That's what I did. I didn't give up. Hmm.
- [08:52]
Conor Benn
Illness, injury and mental problems.
- [08:57]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Are just a few of the things that fighters did.
- [09:00]
Conor Benn
You have any of these Again.
- [09:02]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Again. I'm not gonna go into what I was dealing with.
- [09:07]
Conor Benn
Was it. It's a personal issue you were dealing with. Do you know why I'm asking this question? I'm asking this question because as a fight fan, as a fan of yours, I was watching you as you. As the fight began, and I didn't think you were quite yourself. I've been to your fights. I've been to many other fights. You know, I've watched you in Manchester as well, ringside, and you didn't look the same. So now I have this big question mark in my head as to why you didn't look the same. And I'm, like, really determined to try and understand. I know that you weren't in great physical health, but you say there was other things going on in your life. What category were those things in? If you don't, you don't have to tell me what they are. You obviously don't have to say anything.
- [09:47]
Chris Eubank Jr.
But, no, you know, it's something that, you know, a lot of fighters do. You know, they will come out of a fight and they will say the things that were wrong with the camps and were wrong with their health or wrong with, you know, their personal lives or, you know, I've never been that guy to make excuses. I'm not looking for sympathy. I'm not looking for a reason for people to say, oh, well, you know.
- [10:19]
Conor Benn
Well, you won, so it doesn't matter.
- [10:22]
Chris Eubank Jr.
But even if I had lost, it's not in me to, oh, well, this is why I had to go through this and that. And people saw so much of what I had to deal with. Yeah, my father, the weight cut, the rehydration clause, getting fined a million for being 0.5 overweight, using the gloves that weren't in the contract. Some guy trying to get into my changing room to check my hands and ruffling the feathers of my team. They threw everything at me. They did everything they could to try and get me off of track, to distract me, to take my mind off of the task at hand. And I never let that happen. And I'm very. I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I didn't fall into the traps that were set. Every time they set a trap, I saw the trap go around it, go forward. Oh, there's another trap round it forward, another trap round it forward. That is a part of being a warrior. It's not just getting in the ring and fighting. You have to be smart. You have to be cunning. You have to know your Enemy. You have to understand the things that people are trying to do to take you out of your comfort zone, out of your, you know, out of your preparation. You have to avoid and you have to be make sure that nothing gets into your head, nothing affects what you're going to do on the night, you know. And the crazy thing was, not only was I dealing with all these bullets flying at me from my enemies in Connor Ben in Matram, and Eddie Hearn in Nigel Ben, these are all enemies. Leading up to the fight, I had bullets coming from my family. My father, a couple of days before the biggest fight of my life, he's, you know, he's going into the media and saying, I'm a disgrace. I'm already in, you know, under a lot of stress, under a lot of pressure. And then I've got to hear this. It's like, Jesus, I mean, how much worse is it going to get? It was tough. It was really tough. But on the subject of my father, regardless of what he said about me and about the fight, he was there when it mattered the most. And that means everything. I didn't know he was going to come. He called me, he texted me the day before the fight, the night before the fight. He said, call me when you see this. So I saw the text and I thought, you know what, you know, we are, we're less than a day away from. Well, this is the night before the biggest fight of my life. The last thing I can be doing is being on the phone listening to negativity because that's all he had come with for the last six, eight weeks. The fight's not going to happen. This fight shouldn't be happening. Wait. Are not right. He egged him. He's a disgrace. It's a circus, it's a sham. I will never be in my son's corner. This is all I'm hearing from him for two months. Don't do this fight, Chris. Son. This is all I'm hearing. So I'm sitting there, I'm reading this message and he hasn't, you know, I haven't spoken to him. And I'm thinking, I can't deal with this right now. Call him. Call him for what? So he can say not to take the fight? You know, I got arrest. I gotta, I gotta focus. A couple of hours go by, maybe nine, ten o' clock. It gets to that and I'm like, you know what? I've been through so much shit in the last two months. What more could possibly. What more could possibly be thrown at Me. At the end of the day, he's my old man. He's texted me. I'm gonna hear him out. So I called him. I was about to go to sleep, and I thought, you know what? I'll call him. As soon as he picked the phone up, there was a tone in his voice that I hadn't heard for years. It was a tone of happiness, lightness, joy. Hey, how you doing, son? What's going on? How you feeling? How am I feeling? When have you worried about how I've been feeling? You know, I'm good, dad. Everything's cool. You know, just getting ready to go to sleep. Got a big day tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, I know. I know, son. I know you got a big day tomorrow, and I want to be there for you. So I heard that, and I'm like, is this a dream? Is this. This is Chris Eubank Sr. I'm speaking to. Who is this? Yeah, it's me, son. Let's. Let's do this. Let's do this together. Where are you? I said, I'm at my hotel. He said, all right, well, I'll come to your hotel. We'll speak. And, yeah, let's do it. Okay. Okay, Dad. I ordered him an Uber. Twenty minutes later, he was at my hotel. I got him a room. We went up to the room, we sat down. You know, he said, I was always going to come. I was always going to be there for you. And in my mind, I'm thinking, if I just gone to sleep with, what happens? Would you still be here? Like, you know, we haven't had any communication, and I know I knew how hard it was for him to send me that text of, you know, call me when you see this, because he doesn't do that. You know, it's been years since he tried to have that contact with me. So I think if I just ignored it, then we wouldn't be sitting here today talking about this amazing event that had unfolded. Because make no mistake, him being there made. Made it different. It made it something that will now go down in history. You know, movies are made about this type of stuff. If I go in there alone, it's just a fight. It would have been a great fight still. But to have that fantasy of a father and son coming together after going through so much, so much, you know, my brother passing away, all the stuff in the media, all the friction, to see that, be able to be kind of put to one side and to unite, to come together, to walk into that ring, it's an incredible thing, you know, I get emotional thinking about it because it's. It was so unexpected. You know, I had envisioned in my mind for the last two years me walking to that ring alone. I just. You know, it never crossed my mind that my old man would be behind me. I envisioned walking to the ring alone, being booed and getting into that ring and fighting with anger in my heart. That's. That's what I thought that fight was going to be. What it turned out to be was, I'm walking to the ring, my old man is behind me, he's with me, and, you know, for the first time in my whole career, I'm walking through a crowd and there's no booze. I'm used to walking up into these rings and I'm looking out and people are going, you're gonna get knocked out. And I feed off of that dark energy, and I use it against my opponents. That's what I've been. That's been my life for my whole career, really. In this fight, I'm walking past people and I'm seeing tears in their eyes. I'm seeing grown men with tears in their eyes and smiles and, you know, go on, Chris. And it's like, you know, I'm walking to the ring and my face is always cold because I'm about to get in the ring and hurt somebody and get hurt. But in my mind and my heart, I'm like, what's happening? What is this? This is. I've never. I've never seen this before. I've never seen Cheers, let alone people crying with joy. This is. You know, this is. This is going to be different. This fight is about to be something different. I don't know. I don't know what it's going to be, but I'm excited.
- [20:55]
Conor Benn
What did you discuss in that hotel room? When he arrived in that Uber, he.
- [21:00]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Said to me in that hotel room, what do you think I want from you? I thought about it for a long time, and I genuinely couldn't answer the question. You know, we have been estranged for a long, long time.
- [21:22]
Conor Benn
Years.
- [21:22]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, years. So how can I answer that? What do I want from you? Is what he said. I know that this man is not a man that can be bought. He's got too much pride. He's got too much morals. He's a man of God. That's all that's important to him. You can't buy him. So me knowing that when he's saying, what do you think I want from you? I'm thinking, oh, no. Has that changed? Has he changed. Is he about to, you know, ask me some crazy amount of money? I hope. I hope not, because then that changes my view of who this man in front of me is, you know? So I didn't. I didn't. I didn't even think about that. It's in my head, but I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to say it in the fear that he would be like, yeah, you're going to give me a million? That would have killed me.
- [22:30]
Conor Benn
Really?
- [22:30]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That would have been bad. Why? Because then I know that he's only. He's not there because he loves me and because he wants to see me when he wants to support me. He wants to be my dad. If it's about money, then all of that is irrelevant.
- [22:54]
Conor Benn
Yeah.
- [22:55]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So I was too scared to even talk about. To even mention money, because then that would mean that there's no coming back. You know, if you're. If you're in. If you're. If we were in a room together the night before the biggest fight in my life, and you're just saying, you got to pay me, that means for the rest of our lives, now our relationship will never, ever be the same. So I was scared to say that, and I was scared at the question. I had to joke. I had to make a joke out of it because I was so confused and worried about what was about to happen. I said, you want a hug? I'll give you a hug. He said, no, I want nothing, absolutely nothing. And when he said that, my heart is just an overwhelming feeling of joy. Okay? My dad is here because he wants to be my dad. That's huge. That's everything. That's what I haven't had for years and years and years. So if there was ever a time that I was going to kind of get some of that feeling and love back, this was the time I needed it. And he was there to do it. I'll never forget that. Him being there that night for sure. You know, it gave me those few extra percentages to put into that performance. People say you were finished by. For the eighth round. You had not. Your legs were gone. How did you throw 300 punches in the last two rounds? Well, I had to come outside of myself. It became spiritual. It wasn't about the physical. I was dehydrated. I was experiencing all the things that had been restricting me leading up to the fight. So it became not about the physical. It came about the spiritual. It became about just being true, just being the man I Know I can be. I told you a story once about being on that treadmill and you've got that cramp in your foot, but you said you was going to do the 10 miles. So you've got to limp on that treadmill for as long as you have to to complete the task. No one's around, no one's watching, but you keep your ass on that treadmill and you get through it. You get through the pain. That mentality is what was able to get me through those last two, three rounds. I never gave up. In the gyms, when I was getting beaten up and sparring, I never quit. I would come back the next day when I got the cramps. I kept going because I always knew there would be fights like this where you don't have anything left or you want to give up or you're hurt, you're dehydrated, or you're injured, or you're caught. You know, you can't see anything out of your eye. You've got a big cut across your eye and you're going to ask yourself that question. Getting up off the stool in the ninth, in the 10th round, should I give up? Should I take a knee? Should I run? No. We are going to war. We are going to leave everything we have in this ring because this fight is going to be remembered forever. So what you choose to do in these last few rounds, that is what the people are going to remember you by for the rest of your life. Did you come forward? Did you put all on the line or did you retreat? I wasn't willing to go the rest of my life knowing that I didn't give it my all. Regardless of the cut, regardless of everything I was going through, I knew I just, I had to do what I had to do to win. And my old man's there, he's watching, and, you know, he didn't believe. I'll be able to do what I'm doing. That's what he's been saying for years. I've got to show him. I've got to show the world and I've got to show myself that I'm capable of great things and I'm capable of going through things that 99.999% of human beings on this earth were not willing to go through. And that will live forever. And that's a beautiful feeling. A week after the fight, sitting here talking about it. There's no amount of money that can buy the feelings that I have now. And that is the genuine truth, how proud I am of what we achieved in that fight, it's priceless. It's something that on your deathbed, in 60 years time, you're thinking about it. Yeah, I did that. You can't get that from money, you can't get that from fame. You get that from years and years and years of graft, hard work and just being true. Not cutting corners, not cheating, not being a bully.
- [29:22]
Conor Benn
Chris, everybody has a different relationship with their family. You've always been a seemingly quite emotionless individual, very cold exterior, as you've described it yourself. So it's really moving and interesting to hear how much your dad meant to you. And as you were speaking, I was thinking about to all these interviews I've seen of you over the years where you cite him as your biggest role model in life. I've kind of got two points. The first, I guess is a point which is just, I had no idea he meant that much to you. I had no idea. And secondly, the question is, what caused that relationship to strain?
- [30:06]
Chris Eubank Jr.
My father is an extremely proud and. And an extremely intense human being. He has his ways of thinking, he has his ways of living, teaching, parenting, and it's his way or the highway. Nothing else works in his opinion. It got to a stage in my life where I decided to walk my own path, separate myself from this massive character in my father. I had grown up with this pressure and this responsibility, and it became too much. I was known for being the son of for so many years. Whenever I would hear that, well, at least they know who I am. But it got to a stage where I was like, how do I get away from that? How do I become just me? How do I become Chris Eubank, not the son of a legend. And it dawned on me eventually the only way to do that is to be separate from it in boxing. I'm not talking about, as a father, talking about in terms of my career, in terms of the decision making, in terms of the training, in terms of the fighting, in terms of the media, the press conferences, These were all things that he was right by my side for my entire career. I knew that to get away from the shadow, I had to start doing it on my own.
- [32:04]
Conor Benn
Did you write him a letter?
- [32:05]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, explaining exactly that. I told him, I'm gonna write my own book one day. The book can't be, oh, well. My dad told me to do this, so I did it. My dad said, don't take that fight. So I didn't take that fight. He told me to train that way and go here and wear that. It's not a book. It's not a life. I need to be able to write my own story into history.
- [32:37]
Conor Benn
What did that letter say that you wrote to him, and why didn't you tell him to his face?
- [32:41]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I needed him to understand and read it and reread it and re. Reread it without interruption. You know, if I'm talking to him like I'm talking to you, as soon as something is said that is maybe a little bit, I don't like that, or I don't agree with that, he will be ready to jump in and say his point. I had to get the whole thing out. Couldn't be in conversation. I said to him, I am the boss. And that broke him. He couldn't handle that. He had been the boss my entire life. He had been in charge of who I fought. He. He had been in charge of my financials. He had been in charge of my contracts. He was the boss. So for a boss to hear that he's not the boss anymore, that strained the relationship. Oh, you don't want me to. You don't want me to be a part of your career anymore? All right, well, then, bye. That was his reaction. It shouldn't have been that way, but that's how he dealt with the disappointment and the frustration of what I was doing, which was going my own way. Then you have the tragedy of my brother Sebastian passing away. And this would have happened maybe a year or two after I sent that letter. That affected him deeply. It affected all of us deeply. But, yeah, it affected him so much that, you know, you add those two things together. He's already upset with how I've spoken to him and what I'm doing in my career. My brother passes away, and that caused him to do certain things in his life which, you know, I don't like talking about it, but I'm going to talk about it because it was actually documented. If it wasn't documented, I wouldn't speak about this, and I've never spoken about it. He started smoking marijuana, I guess, to deal with the hardship of losing a son. Everybody deals with these things in their own ways. I can't fault him for that. But I think that changed him as a man in terms of his mindset, and it caused an even bigger gap between us, which, you know, we never recovered from up until last weekend. Since that night before the night, the fight, and every day since then, it's been all love between me and my old man. Which is incredible to think. You know, I was in hospital for two Days after the fight, he didn't leave the hospital. And when I say he didn't leave the hospital, I mean, like, he's sleeping on, you know, one of these stretches outside my room, just in the hallway. That means everything to me, regardless of the differences in the things that have been said and done. You know, a man who is going to stay by his son like that, that's love, you know, it's been so long since I've had that type of feeling with him. And you only get one father. So now we are going to build. We're going to build. We're going to build, and I think our relationship is only gonna get stronger and stronger and stronger. I said it before the fight. This fight is either gonna help us build or it's gonna break us even more. I don't know. It was up to him, really. And he chose for this fight to be the thing that. The catalyst for us to be able to build. And I thank God for that.
- [37:28]
Conor Benn
Did his absence and hearing him call you a disgrace and all of the stuff he was doing in the media ahead of the fight, in many respects, to stop the fight. And it seemed at times I actually watched an interview, I think the day or the day before the fight, where he was in tears, saying to a boxing journalist that the fight shouldn't go ahead and expressing his concerns about the fight, et cetera. Did it impact your mental health?
- [37:55]
Chris Eubank Jr.
It was upsetting. It was distracting. It was horrible knowing that, you know, this deeply personal situation we have is now fully public. It's all over TikTok, it's all over Instagram, you know, the headlines. Chris Eubank Sr. Calls his son a disgrace. You know, millions of people are watching these interviews, so for sure it affects your mental health, your mental well being, your. It's negative and it's deeply personal and you don't want that in the public. It's one thing dealing with family issues, you know, between your family, but when everyone else knows what's going on, it's tough, you know, and it came out of me in that last press conference, Conor Ben, talking about, well, yeah, you just worry about making weight. And at that time, I was making weight and I was in pain and I said, I'm in pain right now and I'm going to be even more pain tonight and I'm going to be even more pain tomorrow morning when I've got to lose those last few pounds.
- [39:08]
Conor Benn
I have the actual quote here. You said, the weight is painful. I'll be in even more pain tonight and tomorrow the question I ask myself is what is pain? I have a 31 year old brother that is buried in the desert in Dubai. That's painful. I have his son Raheem, who is three, asking why he can't see his dad, why doesn't he take me to school? That's pain. My own father, a man I've idolized my entire life and we haven't spoken for years and he thinks I'm a disgrace. These things are pain to me.
- [39:40]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah. And you know, I am not an emotional guy, especially not in boxing, but in that moment, that's what I'm thinking, you know? Yeah. This, this weight cut and this rehydration clause fucking hurts. But guess what? It isn't anything compared to those three things that I listed and the other things that are going on in my personal life that I'm having to deal with and struggle with, all while getting ready for this huge fight. So if I can deal with those things, then what is cutting weight? What is dehydrating and starving myself to make a weight? It's nothing. You know, it's a moment of discomfort. You know, my brother passing away. Rahim not understanding that his father is not with us, questioning why doesn't he take me to school? I see all these other kids, they're coming into school with the dads. Why does my dad take me to school? Why can't I see my daddy? You say he's at the office. Where's the office? Let's go to the office and see my daddy. My own father, yes, he's a disgrace. These are not moments of pain. This is pain that lives with you forever. So they're incomparable. So when Conor Ben's talking about, you just worry about making weight. Don't worry about the weight, mate. The weight's fine. I got a lot worse issues than the weight. The weight's going to come off. I think that was the first time that I kind of got caught up a little bit in what was going on in my life. And the people saw that and I guess they loved seeing that vulnerable side to me because it's real and it's what millions and billions of people are dealing with in their own lives. So to see somebody who's a fighter, who's big and strong and tough, having to go through the same things, it's, you know, it's a, it's a very, it's a humbling thing to see and it's one of the reasons why, you know, when I'm walking to the ring There. There are people crying. His dad came. His dad was there for him. After all that, they're together, you know. I'm going to call my dad after this fight. That's what people tell me. After the fight. I called my dad straight away. Haven't spoke to him for months. Years called him.
- [42:31]
Conor Benn
Were you thinking about your younger brother in the build up to the fight and as you walked out and during the fight? Does that come into your mind?
- [42:41]
Chris Eubank Jr.
There is a picture. There was a picture of him on my shorts, right on the side, and he's screaming and his name's on the bottom of my shorts. Sebastian. That fire, you know, I'm looking at that picture before I'm putting the shorts on, like, yeah, I'm using that energy. This is for you. This is for Raheem. This is for the family. This is for the Eubanks. This is for. I can't look at that picture and lose. It's impossible. It's impossible.
- [43:28]
Conor Benn
Rahim has had a big impact on you.
- [43:32]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Massive. Never thought. Never thought that I could experience the love and the warmth that I have when I'm around him. I was never the type of guy like, oh, I want. You know, I want a kid. I want. I want kids. I want that. I never got it. I just. I guess I was just too busy with my own life, my own career, my own issues. Raheem comes into my life and it just. The love I have around him, it makes me want to have my own son. And Rahim is my son. But biologically, I want to have my own son now because I love who I am and how I feel when I'm around him, when I'm teaching him things, when I'm taking him to places and watching him grow and watching him learn new words and new expressions. It makes me really happy, you know? And before Rahim, I thought happiness was, you know, a big win at a poker table or winning a fight or going on some amazing trip. And those do make me happy. But it's. It's a whole different level when you're with another human being who you love and you're getting to show him the world and teach him things and watch him grow. It's incredible. So, yeah, I thank God for him every day.
- [45:02]
Conor Benn
Is it out in the public domain, the circumstances around your brother's death?
- [45:10]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I'm not 100% sure, but he drowned.
- [45:15]
Conor Benn
He drowned.
- [45:16]
Chris Eubank Jr.
He drowned in Dubai. He had. I don't know if it was a heart attack. It was like a. Something happened with his heart. And of all Places. He's having a. He's swimming in the sea and he, you know, it switched him off for a second. And in that second, he's obviously in the water and he went under and, you know. How insane. Is that the guy? You saw him?
- [45:51]
Conor Benn
Yeah.
- [45:51]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Jack Muscles. He makes his own green juices every day.
- [45:58]
Conor Benn
Alkaline.
- [45:59]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Alkaline?
- [46:00]
Conor Benn
Yeah, that was his nickname for anybody that's.
- [46:01]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Alkaline. Yes. You know, Health fanatic. And in a split second, he's gone. It's just, you know, just put things into perspective and it just makes you appreciate and respect life so much more because you understand that it can be taken away at any time. And it doesn't have to be some crazy car crash or it can just be you're swimming, you're swimming and then you're not there anymore. And it makes you live your life with so much more respect and responsibility and appreciation. You know, before that, I'd have days or weeks where I would just, you know, I'd fuck around, waste time. Video games, tv, you know, around people I shouldn't be hanging around with things that were not productive in any way, shape or form. And yes, you still, you know, you still have to have those moments in your life where you can just kind of do whatever. Nobody's, you know, nobody's going to be righteous every day of their lives. But what experiencing some of this does is it makes you aware of life and how precious it is, and it just makes you strive to be a better person so much more. Because, you know that, you know, we have a finite amount of time on this earth, you know, so are you going to make it count? Are you going to make it count or are you going to waste it? There are people out there who would kill for the lives that we have. So how can you not be grateful? How can you not be respectful and responsible with your time? You know, we are free. We're free. We did it. We made it. Billions and billions and billions of people on this planet will never know what it is to be free. And by. In terms of free, I mean, you know, you're not waking up and working, you know, 12 hour shifts just so that you can eat and live. You know, we have free time. We have leisure. We have, you know, disposable income. People don't have these things. So you've got to be respectful. You've got to be grateful. You've got to be responsible with what.
- [48:53]
Conor Benn
You'Re doing with all of this on your mind. Heading into that fight. I remember the last before the last fight was cancelled, you were saying that you'd be at 60% for the fight and you'd go in there and beat him. What percentage were you at? And I'm kind of coming back to this question again.
- [49:08]
Chris Eubank Jr.
You're really trying to get that out.
- [49:10]
Conor Benn
Mia, it's really. I am trying to understand if what I saw was true. Like when I saw you in those first couple of rounds, I'm stood there kind of confused and concerned at ringside because I'm like, this ain't how he used to look. This ain't what you look like in the other fights. In those early rounds, I was like, he doesn't look like he has the same strength and speed.
- [49:27]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Well, I had a, you know, regardless of what happened outside of my training camp and all the things I was going through, I had a rehydration restriction.
- [49:40]
Conor Benn
Explain this for people who don't know, explain what weight you're at, right? You were at before the fight, how much weight you cut and then what the restrictions say you have to do.
- [49:48]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So, you know, and I'm, I'm not saying this for sympathy or as an excuse. It was my own doing. I take full responsibility. And I say that because they said we want to have a weight or rehydration restriction on you so you can weigh in at the middle weight limit of 160 pounds, but the next. But you can only put on 10 pounds before the fight. Usually there's no restriction what you eat and drink. You just refuel and replenish your body to as much as you can so that you have full energy for the fight.
- [50:28]
Conor Benn
What weight do you walk around at? Just so I have context.
- [50:31]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So in context, I usually put on maybe 14 or 15 pounds after, after a weigh in. So I, you know, I. But I could only put on ten pounds for the fight. If I go over the ten pounds, I've got to pay million dollar fine.
- [50:50]
Conor Benn
But if I saw you in the street in like two months time, what weight would you be at?
- [50:53]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Well, now, if I'm not in a camp and I'm not trading, then I'll probably be, I don't know, 180, 185 pounds.
- [51:02]
Conor Benn
Okay, so 185 pounds. So you've got to lose roughly 25 pounds to get in shape for the.
- [51:07]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Fight, to make weight, which is, you know, it's doable. It gets harder as you get older, that's for sure. Your metabolism slows down. It becomes harder to shed those last few pounds. And it was hard. I documented my Weight cut for this fight, you know, I was in sweatsuits and I had to be wrapped in these heated sheets. And I lay there for half an hour and I'm just sweating everything out and then I'm in. You know, I'm doing all these things to just drain my body of all the fluids and it's torture. You're torturing yourself. You're literally torturing yourself doing this. But you've got to make the wait. If you don't make the wait, they're coming for that cash, baby, you know, and that's what they've done. Unfortunately, they got me on the, on the middleweight limit, I was.05.0.05 pounds over the middleweight limit. I didn't mess up on the rehydration course. So the next day I didn't go over the 10 pounds. But that, the fact that I had to restrict what I was eating, drinking after my weigh in, that, that takes percentages off of your performance.
- [52:28]
Conor Benn
Naturally you check in at £160 the day before and the rest, rehydration clause says, is it 8am the next day you have to weigh again?
- [52:36]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yes. So it was between 8 and 12.
- [52:39]
Conor Benn
Okay. Oh, so 8 and 12 you have to weigh again.
- [52:42]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So I think at 12 o' clock I weighed in at 169.4.
- [52:46]
Conor Benn
Yeah. So you can't gain more than 10 pounds overnight, which means you can't be drinking too much or eating too much of what you want to eat.
- [52:54]
Chris Eubank Jr.
There should have been no rehydration restriction in the first place.
- [52:57]
Conor Benn
If you'd said no to it, would the fight have still gone ahead?
- [53:00]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yes.
- [53:01]
Conor Benn
So why didn't you say no to it?
- [53:03]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Why? Do you think.
- [53:05]
Conor Benn
They paid you more?
- [53:07]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Absolutely.
- [53:09]
Conor Benn
Did you get paid an eight figure number for this fight?
- [53:14]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yes.
- [53:15]
Conor Benn
Okay.
- [53:17]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I was so confident in my ability to beat Conor Ben that I thought, you know what, if you guys want a weight restriction so badly, I'll let you have it.
- [53:30]
Conor Benn
Did you get paid the same?
- [53:32]
Chris Eubank Jr.
But you gotta show me the money. I'm not doing it for free.
- [53:35]
Conor Benn
You named your price, didn't you? I heard.
- [53:37]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yes, I did.
- [53:38]
Conor Benn
And Turkey said yes?
- [53:39]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yes, he did.
- [53:41]
Conor Benn
The first number you named, you fucked up.
- [53:45]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I should have got, oh, man, I could have got a couple cars or, you know, you should have doubled it.
- [53:50]
Conor Benn
And then come down and met him halfway.
- [53:52]
Chris Eubank Jr.
But that's the thing, you know, when you're negotiating with promoters or broadcasters, you know, you come in high, expecting them to come in low, and then, you know, I know this and then that, that's usually what happens. The Saudis are not, they're not normal people, they don't have normal money. So a number that you think is fucking great to them is just yallah, you know. But again, I said I'm not greedy. They paid me life changing amounts of money. That's another reason why I did what I did in that ring. I have a duty to boxing, to the people, to the fans. We can't be making the types of money we're making and give half assed performances. That's disrespectful to people, to the sport, to the fans. You know, we are blessed, we are privileged to be in these positions. Earn, earn your keep.
- [55:13]
Conor Benn
Do you get paid on the performance of the fight as well or do you just get paid a lump sum? How does it work? Because you called Turkey, His Excellency, you said a big number, he says yes. Do you get incentivized on how the fight does in terms of pay per view, that is.
- [55:28]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Well, that all comes in the contract. So you have your purse and then you will agree on if we get to 500,000 buys then I get a percentage and then if it hits 600, I get a percentage. You know, so you work it, you work it like that or just say, all right, we'll just pay you this lump sum and then we get all of the pay per view. Yeah, you know, it just depends on how you negotiate.
- [55:55]
Conor Benn
And so you, you got part of the performance element as well.
- [55:58]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I'm not going to go into details on that specific part of the contract.
- [56:02]
Conor Benn
In my head I'm trying to figure out how much that one fight made you because. Can you tell me how many multiples it was more than your previous fights? I'm just trying to. That'll give me sort of an idea of the scale of this in terms of a financial.
- [56:22]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I mean, it's eight. You said eight figures, right?
- [56:24]
Conor Benn
Yeah.
- [56:24]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So how much more of a scale do you need?
- [56:25]
Conor Benn
No, but I mean, I mean what do you normally get paid? You normally get paid seven figures.
- [56:30]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Couple. Couple million.
- [56:31]
Conor Benn
Okay, fine. So this is like five times more, potentially minimum.
- [56:37]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, it was. You know, I don't have to box again, let's put it that way. But the beautiful thing is at 35 years old, I'm still hungry. I'm still hungry for success in the sport. I'm still hungry for accolades. I'm still hungry to please the fans. You know, a lot of times it's happened throughout history, fighters will get paid big for a fight and then they lose that hunger, they lose, that dedication, that respect for the industry. Oh, well, I've done it now. Now I'm, you know, let's go to the club, let's pop the bottles, let's celebrate, let's travel, let's buy this car and this. Watch this house. Oh, it's Jim. Today I was. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, Just okay. It's okay. That's the trap that so many fighters fall into. And that's why I have so much respect for Floyd Mayweather. He has made a disgusting amount of money and his performances and his dedication never, ever, ever changed. That is, you know, it's incredible because guys, they make their first million and their head's gone. Oh, I made it. All right, cool. No, it's not cool. You know, boxing is a lifestyle. It isn't a one training camp. It isn't one fight. It is a lifetime of dedication and sacrifice, which is why I never gave up going through all the things I was going through leading up to this fight, because I know I've put the work in since I was 14 years old. So it doesn't matter what's going on in these two months. I've served my time, I've been through the trenches time and time and time and time again, and I've always found a way to survive. So I'm going to do it now. Not, oh, well, there's weight clauses and my dad is giving me issues and this and that and that. So I, you know, this is going to be tough. Maybe I shouldn't do this. No, you're going to get through it. Just like you got through that treadmill run, just like you got through that cut in that fight, just like you got through in that cramp in your leg. In that fight, you build up a tolerance for pain and suffering.
- [59:13]
Conor Benn
You did look like a man possessed at moments in the fight to me. You looked like a man that had nothing left in the tank, but one that was still possessed, as you've kind of said, by something else. Because even when it looked to me like there was no energy left, your arms were still swinging and you were still marching forward. So it was confusing. It's always confusing to me because when I feel like that, like I don't have that reserve tank, which was something else, like I actually can't swing my.
- [59:41]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Arms, there was no reserve tank, there was nothing left.
- [59:46]
Conor Benn
What's going through your head in those moments when you. You've got no energy, but Connor, Ben is in front of you and there's still minutes left in the round are you thinking? Is it. Is it like a conscious.
- [59:59]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah.
- [59:59]
Conor Benn
What are you thinking?
- [60:01]
Chris Eubank Jr.
You know, I remember going back to the corner in the, maybe the eighth round, seventh or eighth round, and I can hear my trainer and my cornerman. Gotta use the jab, Chris. Just stay on your jab, you're good. Control the jab, use your feet. I looked at him, I said, it's too late, it's too late. I'm sorry. What's going to happen is going to happen. You'll see. There was a look of confusion on their faces. You know when you have an instruction from a trainer and a team, you're supposed to abide by it. So when I'm telling them it's too late, when you mean it's too late? I had already gone into war mode. Once you commit as a fighter, once you commit to a certain path, you're going to walk down. It's pretty much impossible to then switch back. I had a cut from a headbutt. The blood was going down into my eye. I couldn't see. Fights can get stopped from cuts. As soon as that cut happened, I knew that there was no more boxing. There was no more jabbing, there was no more technicality. There was no more being pretty with it. Defense. Nope. It's go time now, baby. We're going to see how much this kid really wants it. Because I want it. I don't know how much he wants it. We're going to find out. Let's find out. Come forward, you attack, you walk through the punches. It doesn't look good, doesn't look pretty. It's not boxing, it is trench warfare. You know when you're dehydrated as well? After the fight, my face is swollen up, and that's not from the punches, that's from severe dehydration. It's this weird thing where, like when your body doesn't have any moisture in it and you're dehydrated, your face puffs up. I think it's just the skin is weak and it just puffs up. And that's what I was suffering with most in hospital was just complete dehydration. It got to a point where I was in the hospital and I was lying in the bed and they had drips, IV drips, to get all the liquid into your system. And my bladder was full. Like I really needed to pee for about two hours. I'd get up, go to the toilet. I stand over the toilet. Come on, man, come on. Would not go. And I'm dying to Go. That's how dehydrated I was, that my body would not let any liquids, any moisture go. It was holding onto everything. There were moments in that hospital where I'm feeling, you know, I saw myself. I caught myself in the mirror. I see my face is all puffed up, this massive cut across my eye. My headache is crazy, you know, and I'm feeling sorry for myself. Like, this is up, you know, I got my family around me there. You know, some of them are crying and I'm like, this is really, this is so bad. I'm lying there, I've got my mask on, oxygen mask. I can hear everything that's going on. Somebody, we're in a ward, somebody gets wheeled into the room next to me. And it's only, you know, it's. There's no walls, it's like sheets just separating. I'm looking up. Oh, man, this is so bad. Get me the morphine, get me the morphine. They can't get you the morphine until they sign off on some stuff. So I'm waiting there. This is so bad. And then I hear the doctor say, we have to operate on him now, otherwise he's going to die. I heard that from the other room and I thought, oh my God, I'm great, I'm blessed. I should not be feeling sorry for myself at all because I knew I was in pain. But there's a guy next to me, he's about to die. What am I doing? Feeling bad for myself and complaining about a headache and a cut eye. He's about to die. And I do. I don't know. You know, they willed him off and I don't know what happened to him. You know, I pray that he's okay, but that put everything into perspective for me, you know, I'm okay, I'm blessed. I'm going to be okay.
- [65:17]
Conor Benn
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- [66:31]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I said it after the fight. I wasn't expecting him to be able to do what he did in terms of show the heart and the determination and the will to win. He never gave up. I didn't know he had that in him. I hadn't prepared for a 12 round fight like that. I thought that I would get to five or six rounds, he'd start feeling the pace and he'd look for a way out. He did not do that. So in that respect, I have respect for him. The fight finished. I did not shake his hand. I, I didn't congratulate him, I didn't speak to him, I didn't hug him. Which is what most fighters, pretty much all fighters do after they fight. And especially a fight like that, you would expect that I couldn't do it. I didn't have it in me because in my mind, you know, this kid is still a drugs cheat. He still tried to cheat in our first fight, failed two drugs tests, never owned up to it. Denied it, denied it, denied it. No apologies, no admittance, no matting up. I can't forgive that. I can't respect that. I can't shake that hand until there is some accountability. He's not going to give it. You know, I have to set an example to the kids that are watching this fight. They're watching these scenes. You know, if you cheat, if you take performance enhancing drugs, you don't get respect from me. I can't give you that respect because there are kids who are saying, oh well, hold on. He was doing drugs a couple, a couple years ago. He got caught, but now it's okay. You know, he.
- [68:40]
Conor Benn
So this really did bother you. I wasn't sure if that was just part of an act to sort of promote the fight. You would, you know, the egg slap, the constantly berating him about this, the voluntary anti, the, the doping ban that he had. So July, I think it was July 2022 or September 2022. Connor, Ben failed two voluntary anti doping tests for clomiphene testosterone boosting substance and therefore the original fight was cancelled. The UK Anti Doping association formally suspended Connor for a doping violation. They reinstated Conor citing after citing egg contamination, and then reinstated Connor's suspension following an appeal. Ultimately, in November 2024, Connor was cleared to fight after the panel ruled that they had failed to prove intentional use. I wasn't sure if you were actually really bothered by this or whether it was part of the promotion of the fight.
- [69:38]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Bothered is an understatement, really. Yeah. I don't hold grudges. I am. I'm a man that can forgive, never forget, but I can forgive. But when it comes to something as serious as drug cheating in this sport, you saw what we had to go through. So if somebody's got something in their system which is going to make them fight harder, take more punishment, react quicker, you know, that is a form of attempted murder, in my opinion. You're going into a fight with extra weaponry.
- [70:23]
Conor Benn
Is it possible that he didn't intentionally take something in your view? Have you considered that? Do you know, for me, as just an onlooker, I saw him, the emotional impact it had on him. I saw him in tears, I saw him talking about suicidal ideation after that came out. And there was part of me that did wonder for a second, maybe something did happen, because that is the reaction of someone who is truly deeply devastated in a way that an innocent person would be. And imagine if he is innocent, imagine if he didn't intentionally take something.
- [70:59]
Chris Eubank Jr.
You can be suicidal and devastated after getting caught doing something you shouldn't have done. You can still have that reaction. Let's say that he did unintentionally take these drugs. Somebody slipped something into his drink, somebody contaminated his eggs, somebody injected something into him when he was at a doctor's appointment. I don't know. However you want to, however you want to fantasize this beautiful story, let's say that this impossible thing has happened. As a fighter, as an athlete, you only have a few jobs that you have to do. You have to train hard, you have to go to sleep on time, you have to prepare, you have to, you know, you have to make sure that your diet, your fluid intake is on point so that you have the energy to go into these, to these fights, into these sporting events and be able to compete at the highest abilities you can. Aside from that, there's not much else we have to do. As an athlete, it's your job to know exactly what you are putting into your body. Whether it's food, whether it's fluid, whether it's drugs, you have to know. That's your job. So if you're irresponsible enough to let somebody slip something by to where you fail not one, but two drugs tests, if you're irresponsible enough for that to happen, then you're still a cheat.
- [72:59]
Conor Benn
Could you shake his hand now?
- [73:01]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I told you, I didn't shake his hand after the fight. One, because he's never owned up to it, and two, you know, it's very likely that we are going to be fighting again.
- [73:13]
Conor Benn
You slapped him with an egg in a press conference beforehand and you were fined £100,000 for that slap with the egg. Do you regret the egg slap?
- [73:23]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Worth every penny, my friend.
- [73:24]
Conor Benn
Really?
- [73:25]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah. It was a symbol. It wasn't an act of violence, it was an act of justice. It was an act to make sure that for the rest of his life he will never be able to forget what he did. People will always know. Remember that time, maybe Eubank hit him with an egg that will go. That will be with him for the rest of his life. And that's what he deserves for failing those drugs tests so many times. Fighters, they fail drug tests, they serve a little band, they pay a fine, they're back in the ring and people kind of just forget, Kind of just gets swept under. Oh, don't talk about that. Come on, you know, he's doing so well now. Come on, he served his time. No, no, no. This kid is not, he's not getting that. I'm gonna put this egg across his chin. There's going to be pictures that are going to circulate around the world. That memory will stay with him for the rest of his life. He will, he will always be known for that. Why was it an egg? Why did he eat him with an egg? Oh, because he was treating with drugs and it was a contaminated egg. Something like that. I want that story to live with him.
- [74:42]
Conor Benn
There's a rematch clause. I'm assuming the rematch clause. I don't know how these things work, but I'm assuming you get paid the same again. You get paid more. You get paid more to do the rematch.
- [74:52]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Absolutely.
- [74:53]
Conor Benn
Really?
- [74:53]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah. You know, this, that's, this is business. You, you know, the fight will be bigger.
- [74:59]
Conor Benn
Okay?
- [75:00]
Chris Eubank Jr.
The fight will sell more pay per views. It will sell more tickets. It will, there will be a. You can't, you know, you can't get paid the same. If you lose, you get paid less. That's how boxing works.
- [75:14]
Conor Benn
So if you'd lost this fight, you would have got paid less.
- [75:16]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Absolutely.
- [75:17]
Conor Benn
Significantly less.
- [75:19]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I mean, it would still be incredible.
- [75:21]
Conor Benn
Numbers, but, yes, you'd lose millions. Millions if you lose the fight, for sure. Interesting.
- [75:26]
Chris Eubank Jr.
But that's, you know, that's not just because we're working with the Saudis. That's boxing in general.
- [75:30]
Conor Benn
Yeah.
- [75:31]
Chris Eubank Jr.
You're. They say in boxing you're only as good as your last fight. If you win, you can demand more the next time. If you lose, well, you lost. So we're going to give you this.
- [75:42]
Conor Benn
So this rematch clause, if you decided to walk away now, or Conor decided to walk away now, is there any penalty?
- [75:48]
Chris Eubank Jr.
That's a good question. I don't know if there's a penalty. Well, yeah, maybe I could be sued.
- [75:53]
Conor Benn
Okay.
- [75:54]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, there's probably, you know, all that stuff. I have, you know, lawyers that. That deal out all the small print. But, you know, in all honesty, you know, I was like, you guys want. You guys want to sign a rematch clause for this? No one's going to want to see a rematch after I do this. What I'm going to do to you. That's what was in my head. I was like, they're contracting me. They have to deliver a rematch. They have to pay me this. This amount of money, minimum. This is amazing because I'm gonna go out there, I'm gonna blast this guy out, and then, you know, and people are probably aren't gonna want to see a rematch. So this is amazing that I'm gonna actually get it contracted in now.
- [76:41]
Conor Benn
Did you even think that in the day before the fight when you were struggling, did you even think you were gonna blow him out even when you were struggling?
- [76:52]
Chris Eubank Jr.
That's how much I didn't respect the. Not even the ability, because I knew he had ability, but the mindset.
- [77:01]
Conor Benn
Were there people around you encouraging you or floating the idea of you pulling out of the fight because of your health condition?
- [77:10]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I never said I had a health condition. You are, you know, kind of listening to what I've said. And that's what you've taken away from it. I'm not confirming or denying that. Just to make that clear. Um, I'm not gonna answer that question either.
- [77:30]
Conor Benn
Okay, so does that mean that there is going to be the rematch this year?
- [77:38]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I mean, contractually, that is what is on paper.
- [77:44]
Conor Benn
Taki's already booked the arena. I hear he's already booked it in September.
- [77:48]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I doubt that it's already been booked, but, you know, they have their plans, they have their direction, and, you know, with with the Saudis, when they want something, they get it. You know, nobody stops them from doing what they want to do. So it's. It's very likely that that fight will happen again at some point this year.
- [78:11]
Conor Benn
And do you want that fight next?
- [78:13]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I want what the fans want. You know, if the fans want to see it next, who am I to say no? You know, it's a fight that's inspired people. I got friends calling me up, messaging me. Oh, my son. I took my son down to the boxing gym for the first time today. Like, it's getting kids into gyms, you know. You know, I never wanted to box before. He plays football every day now. He's in the boxing gym sending me pictures of him hitting the bags and stuff. It's amazing.
- [78:45]
Conor Benn
Crazy. How much better do you think you could be as a percentage if every, you know, your dad's back in your corner now, you're gonna be a bit more versed in, I guess, preparation and with a weight cut or whatever you said, there's pointed out a few things you said you would have done differently.
- [79:08]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Well, I fought him. I've lived with him for 12 rounds. I know what he is, what he's capable of. So in that aspect, the next fight for me should be a hell of a lot easier because, you know, I'm one of them fighters. You know, all I need is. All I need is to experience it one time and then I know what to do with you. That's how I've always been, especially in, like, sparring. I remember the first time. The first time I ever went into a gym. I can't remember if I told you this story, but I got my ass battered for three rounds the first time I ever went to a boxing gym. But I knew what he was. I knew how strong he was. I knew how fast he was. I knew the type of punches he threw. So after two months of training and preparation, I got back into the ring with that same guy, and I batted him. That's all I thought about, you know, So I believe the same thing will happen with Conor. I won the first fight, and I got to experience what he is. There's so many things I know now about him that I can practice, perfect tweak, tailor my performance to. To take advantage of his weaknesses, and he will probably do the same with me. Yeah, but my experience is so more superior to what he is in terms of what I've done and what I've. The guys I face, I know how to capitalize on being with a. In A ring with somebody before that he doesn't. I've been in rematches before. I've rematched Liam Smith, who beat me in the first fight and the second fight blew him out of the war. So I know what it is to do that he doesn't.
- [81:02]
Conor Benn
Was Conor faster than you were expecting?
- [81:05]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yep.
- [81:05]
Conor Benn
Was he stronger than you were expecting?
- [81:07]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yep. Stronger, faster, tougher and more. Most importantly, is more mentally prepared and more mentally willing to put it all on the line. That was the most shocking thing to me. I didn't think he had that in him. To stay in there and show that dog. We both had to be dogs at the end of that fight and throughout the entire fight. I didn't know he had any dog in him. I thought he was the type of guy, if it's not going my way, I'm gonna look for a way out. He's not that guy.
- [81:55]
Conor Benn
So how does that feel, knowing now that you're getting into the ring again potentially in September this year with someone who is absolutely unwilling to quit? That is an absolute dog that is also learned from you. Is there not an element of you that goes fucking Allard? You know, I'd rather avoid that. I've got eight figures in the bank and, you know, I could buy a boat. I could chill or I could go back in that ring with that dog and might bust my eye and be back in hospital. I'm gonna have to go through the cut weight cut again and dehydration again.
- [82:25]
Chris Eubank Jr.
And it's exciting. You know, I'm sick in that way, in that I love being in these positions where what's going to happen? Am I going to be able to do it? I live for that. I live for those moments. These are the moments that when I'm 60, 78 years old, I'm going to look at and be like, wow, I did that.
- [82:53]
Conor Benn
You're sick in the head.
- [82:54]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Well, you have to be sick to be in a fight like that. Come out of the ring a week later and think, you know what? I can't wait to do that again. That is kind of sick. You know, I'm dehydrated, I'm cut, I'm tired, I'm in pain. There's something sick about it. But you have to be. You have to be wired differently to be a fighter of any type of grade. You can't be a normal human being. Most human beings, when they're in painful situations, wired, what can I do to avoid that? I want to get into it more, see how far I can go can he break me? No. But let's find out if he can.
- [83:39]
Conor Benn
So talk to me about the walkout. The fight was legendary. The buildup was legendary, but the walkout was also legendary.
- [83:46]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I've seen. I watched the walkout 50 times.
- [83:49]
Conor Benn
Yeah, I watched it like 15 times. It was iconic. It made me fall in love with the Dre song again.
- [83:56]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, yeah, that's my anthem. That's the song I've been walking up to for my entire career. So to have an orchestra playing that behind me was special.
- [84:06]
Conor Benn
You had Simply the Best as well.
- [84:07]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, Simply the Best, which I'm guessing.
- [84:09]
Conor Benn
Was a last minute addition.
- [84:11]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Absolutely. We were supposed to have an artist. We were in talks with Central Cee. He was gonna bring me out, and then, you know, obviously last minute, my old man came into the picture, and, you know, we had to cut out all these other things we were gonna do.
- [84:34]
Conor Benn
Your dad requested a song, didn't he?
- [84:36]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So that's the. So he said. He said, what do you want from me? What do you think I want? He said. I said, I don't know, dad, you want a hug? He said, I don't want anything. And then later on, he said, you know what? There's one thing. There's a song that I want you to play at some point in the walkout. And I'm like, here we go. We already got Simply the Best. We've got a whole orchestra for my song. Dr. Dre, how are we going to squeeze in some random song I've never heard of, but My old man's Bald man? And I was actually kind of annoyed because I'm like, you know, the truth is, you haven't been around. You haven't been a part of the fight. You haven't been a part of the. The whole setup. We've had all these, you know, all these things, you know, preparing for the show, and now all of a sudden, you know, you're coming in, you're. And you're saying you want this song. I'm like, you know what? You being there is what's important. And if you're saying that's what you want, we will find a way to put it in. And I listened to the song, and I was like, I didn't get it. I thought, oh, this is just one of my old man's kooky requests that, you know, even on the night, I'm up on the stage, we walk up onto the stage and look out into the crowd, the Simply the Best song stops. And in my head, I'm thinking, oh, man, that would have been so much better to just keep that going, you know? And then this kind of ethereal tune pops out over the. Over the stadium. And I'm looking out into the crowd, and I'm. I'm starting to see people well up. Like, Jesus, this guy. How does this guy do? He always. He always. You know, even when you think he's crazy or wrong, he's right. And this song was like. It just. It worked perfectly with the whole scene. Me and my old man finally standing together, and there's this, like, peaceful song that comes in and we're together, and it's like a beautiful moment that I never thought would happen, that wouldn't have happened if it was just simply the best. Because it's a different. It's a different vibe, you know, it took the energy, it took it down, and then for everyone to just focus on what was actually happening. So we're there and we're listening to this song, and it's like. It's an amazing. It's an amazing moment. And then it dropped into the orchestra. Yeah. And it was just perfect. I was like, wow.
- [87:24]
Conor Benn
And then it dropped into the beat as you started walking.
- [87:26]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah. It was iconic, you know, and it's like, you can't script this type of stuff. You know, it's like. People say. I keep hearing people say, oh, it's like wwe, like, you know, but in real life. And I've never watched wwe, so I don't really know what that means, but someone was telling me, you know, oh, well, you know, obviously, everything's scripted, but they act like it isn't.
- [87:49]
Conor Benn
Yeah.
- [87:49]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So, like, the commentators and, you know, but it's all. So it was like that, but it was real and it was happening in front of everyone for the first time. Everyone's like. And these were real reactions. It wasn't. It wasn't fake. You know, it's crazy the way your.
- [88:02]
Conor Benn
Dad, like, stepped out the car and put one leg out, and then you hear the commentators, like, scream. It was.
- [88:06]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah, it was even that moment. So it's like, you know, if I was on that side of the car because we're in the Rolls Royce, but what if I was on that side? So then we park up, and then it's me that gets out. Obviously, it's still a very cool moment, but it's different when it's. That was a good moment for him to be shown, you know, and then I come in from the side and we hug and we walk in, and.
- [88:33]
Conor Benn
You couldn't hear that the arena had erupted?
- [88:35]
Chris Eubank Jr.
No, I didn't know. I didn't know until people were talking about it.
- [88:40]
Conor Benn
Billy Joe, he tried to get into your dressing room to do your hand wraps. Caused a scene outside with our friend Napper, who I've known a long, long time. Billy Joe, you had a fight with him in the past. Contentious fight. He got the decision in that fight, but it was a contentious fight. How do you feel about Billy Joe?
- [89:08]
Chris Eubank Jr.
There's very few people in the sport, in the planet really that I genuinely dislike. He is one of those people.
- [89:17]
Conor Benn
Who do you dislike more? Conor, Ben or Billy Joe?
- [89:20]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Well, Billy Joe is a drug cheat too, so. Billy Joe, yeah, because not only is he a drug cheat, but he is actually a real scummy human being, you know, and I don't talk about anybody like this. So if I'm saying it about him, there's a reason. He is a bad, bad person. A terrible advocate for the sport. Just a, just a real low life human being. And I don't say that about any of the guys I fought. I'm not even saying that about Conor. Even though he cheated, he's still somebody that, you know, I can see some of the things he does and I can see why people will like him. There's nothing to like about Billy Joe Saunders and for that reason I would love to get my hands on him because he does have a win over me that I don't believe he deserves. That many people say that he doesn't deserve. A lot of people say I won the fight and it's kind of just something that's been hanging over me for so long and I just know that I can beat him and I just know how much of an enjoyment it would be for me to set that record straight. So that's another fight that's a possibility in the future.
- [90:52]
Conor Benn
So if you could draw your future, if you could plot your next three fights and you, you had to decide right now what would those next three fights be. In a perfect world.
- [91:06]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I feel like the demand for this Conor Ben fight is at an all time high. Right. So I feel like that would be the fight to make next. Then you have Canelo. That is a fight that I've been wanting for, you know, for years and I would love to share the ring with that man. And then we could throw Saunders in at the end of it. You know.
- [91:43]
Conor Benn
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- [93:46]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Mean, I often tell Christopher that boxing is a business that you never see middle class or upper class youngsters become champion because you need hunger, you need to be hungry. And the fact that you've kind of been brought up within these four walls here and you've been protected, I don't think you're going to be hard enough. I just want to try it. I just want to see what it's about. If he can, if my can do, why can't I do it? That's the argument I've. That's what so many people come to understand. You take a beating. Is this what it's about? Not for me. And I hope, I hope you're not stubborn and kind of that's what you are. You're stubborn. And Bullhead did. That's why he made it.
- [94:31]
Conor Benn
Yeah, but I don't want him.
- [94:31]
Chris Eubank Jr.
So you're saying he now you don't want him to be Stone and Bo. Listen, you know, for the guys who don't make. For the guys who don't make it in boxing, you know, it's tragic. It's a tragic business to be in. You're convinced he's not going to make it? Just let him go until he wears himself out of it and he's not bothered anymore. Yeah, and by then all those good looking features would have gone. You know what they say. Let me tell you what, Trust me, Christopher, just leave it alone. And you know what? Remember what they said, right? Okay? Am I, am I bad looking? Okay. Why are you putting that into the kid's head? Because I don't want him to fight. I don't want to fight. Everyone gets hurt, everyone get disfigured, everybody get used. What you're seeing is irrelevant at this time. Irrelevant? Yeah. Why? Because it may not happen. It's like worrying about what might not happen. You let me, let me just during this point to you for I would never want, when I have kids for my child or daughter to be in the car crash. So what do I do? I say I'm not buying your car and you can't drive. Is that the right thing to do? Why do I try it? It's a really any. Okay, I will, I will. I'll let you try. All you've got to do is tell me the word. If you tell me, I'll help you. Okay. Darak always said yes. Stop saying use asmr. I want to do it. You want to do it? Yeah. Okay, now there's one to watch. Probably one to watch. Alright, so Hope I was blood in moxie.
- [96:12]
Conor Benn
What's going on there in that video that I just played?
- [96:17]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Fear. That's a father who is thinking about all the things he's gone through and fearing that his son will walk into that, you know, into that industry, walk down that path and have to go through all those things that he went through that he worked so hard to kind of keep his family away from.
- [96:38]
Conor Benn
So you've got Lennox Lewis siding with you and that's your mother.
- [96:42]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yep.
- [96:43]
Conor Benn
And she's also trying to persuade him to let you have a shot at boxing. When you watch that video now, after everything that happened with the fight, we just all watched where There was almost 70,000 people in an arena, people watching all over the world. It's been this global phenomenon, not just in the uk, but I was in America, in New York this weekend, and people are talking about it there. How does it feel to look back at that video?
- [97:07]
Chris Eubank Jr.
It's scary, man. It's scary. I mean, everything he's saying is right. He's completely right. You know, boxing is a tragic sport for the people that make you get disfigured and used, you know, Disfigured. I've been used plenty of times. It's scary to. To think about how far we've come from that moment in time. All the things I've gone through, the things I've done. And, you know, he had every right to feel the way he did because champions, hard men don't come from those backgrounds that you saw that was filmed in a multi million pound house. You know, I went to private school the next day after that interview. Kids that live that life don't accomplish anything in such a barbaric sport because there's just too much pain and suffering you have to go through. And there's too many times where naturally you'll look for ways out. Now, the kids that come from broken homes, poverty and, you know, nothing, they don't have any other doors to open and walk through. So when they go to the gym and when they go into these fights, if I don't get through this door, I don't eat, I can't pay the rent, can't feed my family. For me, when I'm looking at that door that I have to go through, whether it's in a gym or in a fight, I know that if I don't make it through that door, there's a door there and a door there and a door there and a door there. And if I'm experiencing too much pain to get to that doorknob to open it, I can just step back. You know what? All right, let's go over here. Football, business, acting. I could do whatever I wanted with the position I was in as a kid. I still wanted to walk through that horrible, painful, nasty boxing door and open that door. And you Walk through the door and you get punched in the stomach and you go through that, and then you got to walk through the other door and you get cut above your eye and just keep walking, keep walking, keep walking, keep walking. And there's all these other doors. Hey, come, come, come, come, come, come. We'll just take the easy route. Take the easy route. No, I'm staying here. So it was so much harder for me to do what I was doing because there was so many other choices. And my father thought that as soon as I reached that first door, I'd be like, you know what? Nah, he said it. I'm not going to be hard enough. And nine times out of 10, kids are not hard enough in that. In that position. But I was hell bent on proving him wrong and proving and proving myself right. I knew I had in me. I felt what I had in me. Anyway, I didn't know. You never know until you're in those positions. But I just. The strength and the, you know, that feeling inside of me was so. It was so visceral. I was like, there's no way. I can't do this. Like, if I just. If I put everything into this, how can I fail?
- [101:02]
Conor Benn
Maybe he was calling you a bluff.
- [101:04]
Chris Eubank Jr.
That's another crazy thing that I used to think about. Did he. Was he. Was he saying this to make me, to make me push harder? Because he's thinking, all right, well, if I say, oh, he'll be great when he gets to those painful positions, he's already kind of got my. Or I've already got his blessing. So it's like, oh, well, you know, he's behind me anyway, regardless. So, you know, I tried my best. Or does he want me to be at that front door thinking, my old man, he said I couldn't do it. Am I gonna let him be right? No.
- [101:43]
Conor Benn
Well, he did put a chip on your shoulder in that regard, for sure.
- [101:46]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Massive. Massive.
- [101:49]
Conor Benn
I saw the press conference with you and Eddie Hearn, and I also saw the one with where Eddie Hearn walks off and then Frank Smith comes in. Frank Smith is like your brother in law?
- [101:59]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Unfortunately, yes, he is. Him and my sister have been together for a long, long time, which is an extremely wild thing to think that.
- [102:11]
Conor Benn
The CEO of Matchroom Boxing is basically your brother in law.
- [102:16]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah. You know, do you get along? No, absolutely not.
- [102:20]
Conor Benn
You don't get along?
- [102:22]
Chris Eubank Jr.
No, we were okay. We were fine for a couple of years. For a number of years. You know, I even spent Christmases with them. But it got to a stage where I started to see Matchram, Eddie Hearn and himself trying to block me in terms of the business side of the sport. You know, I am with a promotional company called Boxer, Boxer and Matrim, which is Eddie Hearn and Frank Smith are, you know, deathly enemies. They are arch rivals. So they do anything they can to screw over Boxer. I'm with Boxer. So Frank Smith is trying to sabotage, or was trying to sabotage certain things going on in my career, being a part of Matrim. As soon as I learned that it doesn't matter that you're in a relationship with my sister, we are not, you know, we are never going to talk again. We are never going to be cordial again. You are working against me. He was sitting in that arena on Saturday night praying that I lose.
- [103:47]
Conor Benn
Why didn't you sign to match him? Did you try?
- [103:51]
Chris Eubank Jr.
They, they, they offered.
- [103:53]
Conor Benn
Why did you say no?
- [103:54]
Chris Eubank Jr.
I don't trust Eddie Hearn. I don't trust Frank Smith. I don't trust Matcham. These people are, they're dangerous. And, you know, it's. It's crazy to think that, yeah, he is with my sister. I don't know how that relationship came about, but love is a peculiar thing.
- [104:22]
Conor Benn
And you're good with your sister, obviously.
- [104:23]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Of course. Yeah, of course.
- [104:25]
Conor Benn
She was there in your corner for the fight.
- [104:28]
Chris Eubank Jr.
Yeah. And I was actually thinking, I'm gonna ask her, you know, how does it go? Like, you know, you guys go back home together, you guys are lying in bed. I've just won. Connor Ben's just lost. What do you guys, like, say to each other? You know, like, because Frank is distraught that, that, that, that Connor Ben lost, you know, that's their golden boy. That's their ticket. You know, I'm my sister's, I'm my sister's brother. So you've got two completely opposite sides in the same bed. What do you guys say to each other? You know, it's just. I want to ask her that question.
- [105:08]
Conor Benn
We have a closing tradition on this podcast where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, not knowing who they're leaving it for. And the question left for you is if you could listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
- [105:20]
Chris Eubank Jr.
One album for the rest of my life. It would have to be something timeless, something that can be something that lasts, you know, so it would have to be something like Michael Jackson thriller, you know, a classic. Something that in 200 years time, you're gonna still have kids listening to it. That, yeah, this is my Jam right here. Yeah, I guess that would be the album.
- [105:45]
Conor Benn
Chris, thank you so much for giving all of us as boxing fans a moment that we will never forget. I do have to say I've been to a lot of boxing fights all over the world, and one of my favorite fights was this Lomachenko fight that I saw in New York. But without a shadow of a doubt, that is the best boxing fight I've ever seen in person. And not just because of the fight itself, but because of all of the subplots and all of the inspiration it gives everybody. Watching you go into that 12th round with Conor and give everything when it was so abundantly clear that you had nothing in the tank sends a message to all of us that there's so much more within us that we probably don't always realize. And sometimes it takes, you know, the family legacy or something deep and profound and meaningful for us to find that in ourselves. But even as you talked about the, you know, I've had certain challenges with my family's family over the years and with my parents, with my mother and these kinds of things. And there's been fractures and years where I was disowned and all these kinds of things. And I saw myself in all of that. You know, my mother had some struggles that she went through which were somewhat similar in elements to the struggles that your father went through. And I know what it feels like. I know what it feels like. So it just gave. It gave everybody so much. And I'm so glad you've been able to get out onto the streets for the first time since the fight and feel that because you brought so much joy, both of you, both you and Connor both, so much joy, so much inspiration and memories that I will tell my kids about and I'll say I was there for that fight and I'm so happy for you as well because I know the career journey you've been on and the twists and turns and everything. So I'm so glad that the public got to know all of you. Not just the cold faced guy that, you know, throws a good uppercut, but the human as well. And it's in part, I think, because of some of the difficult moments you've been through, that you've stepped out a little bit more and become more comfortable with showing the world all that you are. And that's the most valuable Chris that I think the world can see. So thank you. Really, really appreciative and I can't wait to see these next couple of fights you have as you close out what has been a remarkable career. Thank you. This has always blown my mind a little bit. 53% of you that listen to this show regularly haven't yet subscribed to this show. So could I ask you for a favor? If you like the show and you like what we do here and you want to support us, the free, simple way that you can do just that is by hitting the subscribe button. And my commitment to you is if you do that, then I'll do everything in my power, me and my team, to make sure that this show is better for you every single week, week. We'll listen to your feedback, we'll find the guests that you want me to speak to, and we'll continue to do what we do. Thank you so much.