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8th August 2020
By: Noah Abrahams
One of boxing’s fiercest middleweights, Chris Eubank Sr is undoubtedly a contender for the most eccentric English champion of all time. The father of Chris Eubank Jr, Nigel Benn’s nemesis and twice Britain’s ‘Best Dressed Man’, today Eubank celebrates his 54th birthday.
Nicknamed ‘English’, Eubank actually began his boxing career across the Pond. Eventually becoming a two-weight world titleholder, a 1990’s household name in the UK had a difficult start to life. Growing up in South London (having also lived in Jamaica), a young troublemaker was sent by his father to New York aged just 16. Now known for his unique elocution and granite chin, a love for boxing was born in the Bronx.
Following in the footsteps of his two elder brothers, Eubank embarked on an education in the art of boxing. Reaching the 1984 Spanish Golden Gloves Tournament and the semi-finals of the main competition at Madison Square Garden aged just 18, ‘Simply the Best’ made his professional debut against Tim Brown in October 1985 at the Atlantis Hotel, Atlanta USA.
Winning a four-round unanimous decision against Brown (who only ever fought twice), Eubank began a winning streak that would last just shy of ten years. Fighting his next four bouts in the States, the return to his homeland was the product of hard work and determination to succeed back in Europe.
Competing all over England between his return in 1987 and his famous clash with Benn in 1990, the most notable of 19 bouts came against an Argentinian with a chin that Eubank told The Ring magazine was the best he ever faced. Beating Eduardo Domingo Contreras by unanimous decision in Brighton, 1990, the Englishman explained that:
“By far Eduardo had the hardest chin. If you watch our fight, you’ll see what I mean. I dread to think how he is today. He took everything!”
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In November 1990, at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Eubank won his first world title against all the odds. Whilst Contreras had a terrifying chin, ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Benn had everything. In a fight dubbed The Battle of Britain, Eubank beat his fellow countryman when referee Richard Steele was forced to intervene at the end of round nine. In the first of two legendary bouts, even Eubank’s ring walk was ‘Simply the Best.’ As the challenger entered the arena, Benn’s team supposedly cut Tina Turner from the speakers. As a result, ‘English’ impassively made his entrance to the ring, the mind games ultimately backfiring on the WBO middleweight title holder.
Eubank considers Benn his greatest competitor: “When Benn hit you, you stayed hit. The impact of the hit stayed with you for at least two-and-a-half seconds,” he told The Ring magazine.
Two men that hated each other, the first round was a display of detestation. Eubank instantly flew out of the blocks side on as if to catch Benn off guard with a right cross. In a fast-paced grudge match, former BBC Sports Editor David Brenner compared the opening rounds to a Grand Prix. Eubank won the first two rounds and Benn the third. The fourth was a Benn masterclass. Eubank took a ferocious right uppercut to the chin when breaking from a clinch and subsequently bit his tongue. Swallowing copious amounts of blood, Eubank downplayed his injury and fought back, piling on the pressure in the fifth round and targeting Benn’s swollen left eye. Pinning Benn to the ropes but caught with a nasty string of low blows in the sixth, Eubank, despite having taken damage to the body, evened out the scores in the seventh round.
Ask Mr Eubank about his meeting with the canvas midway through the eighth and he will assure you that the eight count from Steele was unjustified. Adamant that he slipped, Eubank went down to an overhand right that caught the top of his head, having been trapped in the corner following a tirade of short hooks. Back to his feet, the challenger once again evened out the contest, only to allow Benn back in it with a quick left hook a round later. With Eubank behind on the score cards, the ninth round was the reason that Steele exclaimed: “Benn vs Eubank was the most dramatic fight I’ve ever refereed.”
Staggering his opposite, today’s birthday boy had Benn on the receiving end of a lethal left right combination in the final round of their first meeting. Whilst surviving the onslaught, a straight right from Eubank sent Benn back into the corner, Steele with no option but to conclude the flurry with five seconds left on the clock. After a classic battle, Eubank stormed into 1991 as world middleweight champion.
Just under three years post Eubank’s victory in Birmingham, the re-match coined ‘Judgement Day’ went ahead at Old Trafford. With over 40,000 spectators in attendance and a global television audience of over half a billion people watching worldwide, promoter Don King was rubbing his hands together.
Two belts were up for grabs – Eubank’s WBO and Benn’s WBC. October 1993 belonged to Britain.
Although not quite the spectacle of the original showdown, boxing fans will still look back fondly on a remarkable 12 rounds of boxing with no eventual winner. Not even King had predicted a draw. It simply was not thought possible prior to fight night!
The judges scored the bout 115–113 Eubank, 114–113 Benn, and 114–114. Eubank knocked Benn through the ropes in the sixth, shots were traded throughout and even a point deducted late on when ‘The Dark Destroyer’ hit ‘south of the border’.
A chapter in Eubank’s life that is well worth watching back, a third and final meeting never materialised for two great rivals who both defined the other’s career.
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Whilst Eubank and Benn had a world-famous rivalry, victories over the likes of Dan Sherry (trained by Sugar Ray Leonard), Michael Watson and Dan Schommer should not be forgotten. Eubank explained to The Ring that despite having fought (and lost) to Joe Calzaghe and Steve Collins, Sherry was the most effective opponent faced in his tenure, with Schommer both the best defensive boxer and most intelligent he came across.
Beating ‘Dangerous Dan’ in South Africa by a controversial unanimous decision on 15th October 1994, ‘English’ said:
“Dan took one of my teeth out and they gave me the decision for which I apologised. He was always slightly out of range, which is why he was able to pick me off like he did. He had no cut of a fighter, yet I was completely out-boxed.”
On former Commonwealth middleweight champion Watson, Eubank explained that the Englishman inflicted serious damage, despite ‘The Force’ having lost twice to him in three months. Hurting ‘Simply the Best’ more than Benn ever did, Watson may have retired after his second defeat to Eubank in September 1991 due to near fatal injury but he did so having earnt his victor’s respect. Eubank said:
“Michael Watson gave me a boxing masterclass for 10-and-a-half rounds. He peaked in life during the second bout.”
After a 43-win streak, Eubank eventually lost his first professional fight to Collins ‘The Celtic Warrior’ in Ireland. On 18th March 1995, the WBO super-middleweight title found a new home across the Irish sea.
Eubank beat Argentina’s Bruno Ruben Godoy two months after the defeat, then knocking out Spain’s Jose Ignacio Barruetabena at Whitley Bay in July 1995 (his last victory on home soil). Losing again in the re-match to Collins, the second defeat on 9th September (just five months later) really marked the beginning of the end for a boxing fan favourite. Losing three of his last five contests, Eubank hung up his gloves, having knocked out Luis Dionisio Barrera in Egypt and Camilo Alarcon in Dubai.
On the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Calzaghe, Eubank failed to capitalise on winning back the vacant WBO super-middleweight title at the Sheffield Arena in October 1997. Like most boxers, ‘English’ stayed in the game longer than he ought to have done. Twice defeated by Carl ‘The Cat’ Thomas, who defended his WBO junior-heavyweight title successfully in the summer of 1998, a unanimous decision and referee technical decision in favour of ‘The Cat’ concluded an extraordinary Eubank reign that perhaps lasted a little too long come the final bell.
Announcing his retirement after the Thomas defeat, Eubank has kept boxing close to his heart ever since. A true people’s champion, ‘English’ has hosted Top of The Pops, appeared on the hit reality television show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and regularly appears as a pundit.
Happy birthday to boxing’s most stupendous son! Never change Chris!
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