Eubank is a Legend

[coghaugen]

I came up the hard way, I came against all the trickest tasks, from the most relentless punching welterweights I ever saw in Eric Holland and Michael Justin, to tackling cruiserweights on a few hours notice a few weeks apart, to the most awkward southpaw stance I ever saw in my fifth fight, and then taking on a world-rated middleweight after just 11 fights. All the while living out of one room and working day jobs to make ends meet. I dug deep and won all my fights and came out and got signed up by the wisest promoter of all, in Barry Hearn.

I had traded punches around the gyms of New York City with the best amateur boxers in the United States, like Milton and Breland and Ramos and Rivera, as a modest English teenager, and that brings you on, but not only that, but the style of sparring in New York - where gym fights were expected to be life-and-death affairs, where sparring was expected to be fistic warfare on a merciless scale; the only way to truly learn.

When I came back to the United Kingdom, the ABA champions Rod Douglas and John Beckles were physically the strongest amateur-come-professionals in the game and I did sparring with them, I did sparring with Errol Christie who had everything other than durability underneath 16oz gloves and head gear, and Herol Graham who was the best I ever saw at avoiding punches. All this phenonemal sparring was paramount. You learn so much when you pitch your big toes into the canvas, bite down on your mouth piece and throw punches with top gym fighters.

The toughest man I ever fought in terms of absorbance was Eduardo Contreras from Argentina. I hit his head with two tonnes of force 500 times and he wasn't phased. He was also very elusive and very evasive, and hardly threw a punch; so it was the most frustrating night I ever spent in Brighton or Hove in my life.

(Nigel) Benn was a phenomenal power puncher, he was taking guys off their feet in a round or two right the way up to the toughest New Yorker in the world in (Iran) Barkley. He became the No. 1 middleweight in late 1990, after the other world middleweight champions struggled with the men Benn blasted out. Barry Hearn got the right fight at the right time for me and I knew the world was my oyster if I beat Benn.

I figured that he could only knock me out, and I figured that since I had never even been put down in my life, I had a better chance than any of enduring any punch he gets in. He had only fought men who stood in front of him; so I used the ring generalship, moving and dancing. I bypassed my jab to earn his respect and kept my hands at stomach-height to throw him off.

It was a tactical triumph and also one of determination, because he hurt me like no man had hurt me before and I battled through the pain barriers to wait for the moment I had subconsciously expected as an exhausted recluse for 80% of the 80s. I was as tunnel-visioned and objective as any young man could possibly be for so many years running that Benn - the playboy and golden boy - really had no idea what he had got himself into until it was too late.

Dan Sherry and Gary Stretch were tall, young, undefeated guys with fast hands, awkward movement and difficult stances and who had never visited the canvas. But I out-fought and out-strengthed them both. Then came the two (Michael) Watson fights, which we won't go into today. Sugar Boy Malinga was a fine, defensively compact, long-armed boxer whom I out-sped and out-manuevered and also dropped and nearly stopped. Malinga had never visited the canvas.

Over my next five fights, I felt like I had mastered boxing. I was world champion, 35-0-0, and recently purchased a twin mansion, married with two children and a third on the way. I was only 26. I just trained harder than everyone else and had done for 10 years.

The Benn rematch was a thing where, you know, in my head I have already beaten this man - conquered him. All he can do is punch. I know I can take his punch. What I didn't expect was for him to use tactical maturity and elusive defensive evasions prior to launch. He did good. I came in heavy and sluggish, but that's no excuse for underestimating Nigel that night. 43,000 fans paid millions of pounds to see us in the flesh, when they could so easily have watched for free, and that mass of faces that looked like even more on the night really threw me off. It was a fair draw and I had no complaints.

Why or how (Steve) Collins threw me off had nothing to do with claims of hypnotism or silly stunts. It was merely a racial thing. He made what I perceieved as a racist remark, and I hated him for it. I had succeeded in all 43 of my previous fights because I let the opponent be subjective as I remained objective. Collins was the first guy to make me go into the ring being subjective and that's why I lost.

The masses hated me for so many years when I was winning, and it's the way my cookie crumbled that I had to come back and take my beatings and losses to gain the respect I always craved. I liken the (Joe) Calzaghe and (Carl) Thompson fights to that scene in the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest where Jack Nicholson's character tries to pull that heavy, bolted-down sink out of the floor and throw it out the window so he can escape the nut house and go and watch the World Series. You want him to succeed so badly, but as hard as he tries, he simply can't. That was the scene that made him.

Leddgend!!

[paul750]

Is that you, Juy?

[frosty-g]

gotta love Chris Eubank

[Juof]

eubanks one of my favourite fighters hes different from the rest

[Control-]

I totally agree. eubanks is underrated today and he was a beast back in the day.

[Sine]

he is an absolute legend. I hate how he is totally disrespected by the media and people in general as he has a eccentric style outside of the ring. Louie Theroux (english documentary maker) was making fun of him until he saw him in the gym then he understood why is a champion.

[theproof]

that was a nice read. he is humble. like glen johnson. i respect these kind of fighters who know who they are and are able to accept the game as it is with no excuses. however. a legend? be seroius. just a really good fighter who was good for the game. luck was on his side to train with all the top fighters early. which let him know he was equal to what was some of the best of his era.

[impitpatpuncher]

I was just watching a Michael Watson documentary and I really respect both.
I don't think that he is a legend, but a great boxer is also a good thing.

[RayCharles]

I sat next to him on a flight once when I was a kid. He was extremely arrogant and annoying haha. Still a legend though

[Ray Corso]

Legend? Best? Are you serious? Heres a guy who fought a few prelimes in Jersey as a young kid then flew off to Britian and never came back. When he fought decent guys like Stevie he got beat! He was a good enough fighter in Britian but a legend IN england not on a world wide level.
Today everyones a Legend/ATG and pound for pound best! The guy never fought outside his "area", you never saw him in Vegas and everyone was hand picked opponents or he got beat. Good skills and technically sound but no Legend!!! Ray.