Blackwell: Eubank Jr. Trying To Be Something He's Not

By Jake Donovan

It appears as if the war of words will rage on until Nick Blackwell and Chris Eubank Jr. have the opportunity to wage war in the ring.

There is clearly no love lost between the pair of British middleweights, who collide on March 26 at the SSE Arena in London, England. Despite the insistence of both boxers claiming it’s just business and there is no personal vendetta held against one another, neither seem to have anything in the way of a kind word to offer the other side.

The latest round of insults has surfaced in the past few days, all while the promotion still has fight week to get through. Blackwell (19-3-1, 8KOs) will attempt the third defense of his British middleweight title, a crown which Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16KOs) claims he doesn’t do justice.

Whether personally insulted or using such comments as motivation, the defending titlist chose to take such comments as fighting words.

“He's talking nonsense as always,” said Blackwell, in comments released through the press office of his promoter, Hennessy Sport. “I don't play much attention to him. He just wants people talking about him and, to do that, he'll say the most stupid stuff possible. If we're talking about doing the British title a disservice, how could anybody possibly look up to Chris Eubank Jr?

“He's the furthest thing from a role model you can get. People talk about him in boxing but not for the right reasons. They never have anything good to say about him. You never hear someone say, 'Oh, yeah, he's a decent guy.' If some young kid was getting into boxing and the first boxer they came across was Chris Eubank Jr., they'd be put off the sport for life. They'd think every boxer was as arrogant, big-headed and unlikeable as him.”

Because of his familial bloodlines, Eubank Jr. tends to command more attention than most of his peers. His father, Chris Eubank Sr. was an integral part of the British boxing scene in the 1990s, having held title reigns at middleweight and super middleweight.

Eubank Sr. often landed in the role of villain due to his personality that came across as brash and arrogant. Still, he led a very respectable career, his name forever attached to his famous, long-standing rivalry with Nigel Benn and later with Steve Collins, who handed Eubank his first (and second) career defeat.

There’s a long way to go before Eubank Jr. can be placed upon a similar stratosphere (if ever), yet has already gained a reputation as a fighter with a false sense of entitlement. He’s shown through more than four years in the pro ranks that he possesses the potential to make some noise, evident in his closely contested points loss to Billy Joe Saunders in their Nov. ’14 title eliminator and then returning strong with a 12th round stoppage win over previously unbeaten Dmitry Chudinov just three months later.

Still, the results he’s produced have to justify the game he talks. His upcoming opponent believes it stems from insecurity and a desperate attempt to live off his father’s name and reputation.

“He's always trying to be someone he's not,” said Blackwell. “He could actually be a nice kid if he cut the apron strings and was himself a bit more. But he's told what to say by his father and he's always in performance mode. There's nothing real about him. He's not popular, he can't sell tickets and people only ever talk about him negatively.

“That's okay if you're going to be Floyd Mayweather, but he's not. He comfortably lost to Billy Joe Saunders… he still thinks he (won). He's deluded. Billy Joe boxed his head off for the first six or seven rounds, won every one of them, and then his fitness let him down. If he'd been fitter, he'd have won every round. You'd think a defeat like that would make Eubank Jr. a bit more humble and realise he's nothing special, but it doesn't seem to have worked.”

By his own admission, Blackwell claims this to be his own view of his upcoming rival, once again insisting it’s just personal.

“I don't particularly like Eubank Jr. or his attitude, but I don't take any of his nonsense personally,” Blackwell insists. “He doesn't offend me or hurt me in any way. I just don't agree with the way he goes about things. Hate is a strong word and I don't know enough about the real Chris Eubank Jr. to say I hate him.

“All I have to go on is a persona he and his father have created. He's a fake. When we fight we'll find out who the real Chris Eubank Jr. is. He won't have his father doing the talking for him, and he won't have him doing the fighting for him, either. It will just be me and him in there.”

Once the bell sounds, the ring is where the defending British middleweight titlist will choose to do the rest of his talking.

“He might say I'm a bland fighter and say this is going to be an easy fight – and I'm sure he's looking past me – but deep down he knows this is going to be the toughest fight of his life,” believes Blackwell. “We'll see what sort of fighter and man he really is on March 26.”

“If he was to ever get lucky enough to win a British title – and I don't think he ever will – it will be a sad day.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox