Eubank Snr encouraged his son not to take fight fight against Benn (Picture: Getty)
Chris Eubank Snr urged his son to fight Liam Smith or Billy Joe Saunders instead of Conor Benn, lamenting the decision to go against his wishes and for failing to ‘appreciate how good things have always been’.
The grudge match between Eubank Jnr and Benn, 30 years on from their fathers’ historic battles, was postponed 48 hours before the opening bell last week after it was revealed the latter had returned a positive test for banned substance clomifene.
The bout was scheduled to be fought at a catchweight of 157lbs, requiring Eubank Jr to drop down from 160lbs where he has recently campaigned at middleweight, having also fought at super-middleweight [168lbs] in recent years.
Eubank Snr had expressed grave concerns over the catchweight, urging his son to pull out of the fight and urging fight fans to boycott it. ‘No one can put my son’s life in danger. I have already lost one son,’ he told Metro.co.uk in September.
The former middleweight and super-middleweight champion, one of British boxing’s greatest ever fighters, refused to be involved in the Benn fight and has insisted he now plans to go after the promoters and managers who were happy for it to go ahead.
In an interview with Stamina for Sale, Eubank Snr revealed his relationship with his son has suffered after Jnr refused to listen to his advice, which included taking a fight against Smith and a rematch against Saunders.
‘I made it very clear months ago that this fight won’t happen because he is my son. And I have to protect him,’ Eubank Snr said.
Eubank Jr vs Benn was called off at the eleventh hour (Picture: PA)
‘These people are attempting to murder the boy. It is clear to me but not to anyone else. If you are a fighting and have lived the life of a fighter and what it means to lose weight, my son has been protected and I have brought him up good in boxing.
‘But he doesn’t want to listen. He wants to be the boss and I said go ahead. I said I don’t think you should have the fight. I think you get the same money for fighting Liam Smith, then you have Billy Joe Saunders, then you have Canelo and that’s you career. And these guys can you beat. Because you are a magnificent fighter.
‘I believe in him but he doesn’t believe in me. And sadly, it has come to the point where you no longer care, it means I have let go.’
Eubank Snr also hit out at his son’s choice of role models in boxing, accusing him of chasing a ‘bling bling’ lifestyle like Floyd Mayweather Jr and believing the world views him as ‘a greedy little pig’.
‘He [Eubank Jnr] manages himself, he looks after himself and all I can say is fine. I have done nothing but gift this young man a career. A face.
‘The respect I garnered from all those years, those 24 world championship fights, never mind the wins, look at the losses, look at the men I had to beat. Then what, I’m going to have my boy tell me how to do this? He doesn’t appreciate how good things have always been.
‘But it’s by the by now. You’ve got people that you aspire to be like. He picked Mayweather Jr because he shows the bling, the planes, the money. The girls, the clubs. I admire the man, he’s a brilliant and fabulous fighter. As a man, don’t talk to me about him. ‘Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, they are men. They lead by example.
‘You teach my boy to be a bling bling kid? Mr Mayweather, no. That’s why he didn’t listen. And now, the world is looking at him as if he’s a greedy little pig. And I try to keep him away from that, but he won’t listen.’
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Eubank Snr opposed the fight from day one.
