Harlem Eubank always knew there was another way.
Had he opted to take it, he might never have graced the Metropole Hotel in his hometown of Brighton, Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Centre, the MECA in Swindon, or the Arena in Riga, Latvia.
Instead, it could have been the O2 in London, Wembley Arena, the Co-op Live in Manchester, but no.
There has been no leg up, no helping hand, no reliance on a name, a song, a fancy entrance and no question of asking for assistance.
Instead, Eubank, 31 and being promoted by Wasserman Boxing, learned on the small-hall circuit.
Sure, he never hid from his famous name, but he didn’t cash in on it.
He learned his craft, buried himself in boxing, stayed true to himself and he fought.
Eubank always knew he could have gone the other way. He could have come out to Simply the Best, the iconic Tina Turner song his uncle Chris used to walk to the ring to, and he could have vaulted over the top rope, because he has more than enough athletic ability to do so.
“You know, I’m just going to be myself – boxing is one of those things,” Eubank tells BoxingScene.
“People can see if your character’s legit. People can see if you’re faking. People can see if you’re cheating. People can see if you’re a fraud; if you’re not what you genuinely are. This is the craft where it’s everything; you wear everything on your sleeve. And that’s the way I am.
“I wanted to do it the way that the greats before me have done it. I didn’t want a fast track. I didn’t want to be placed somewhere I didn’t deserve to be. I’ve gone out and I’ve earned it with my performances.”
On the way through, he’s beaten fighters like Sean Dodd, Timo Schwarzkopf, and Tom Farrell, on his way to amassing at 21-1 (9 KOs) record. The only loss was in his past fight, a seventh-round technical decision defeat by Jack Catterall to round off a messy fight.
On Friday, in his hometown of Brighton, England, the welterweight tops the bill against Canada’s Josh Wagner.
“There’s always different paths you can choose to take,” Eubank continues. “I look at interviews of Terence Crawford and some of the best guys in the sport, and these are guys that aren’t faking it. These are guys that can really fight, that have earned their place and that have been told previously by guys around them you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to do things that are more commercially viable and they’ve stuck to who they are.
“You know, Terrence Crawford, he said, Top Rank when he went there, they told him he needs, first thing, you need a new coaching team. And now you look and he has the best… [or] one of the best coaching teams in the world this whole time. They didn’t become the best overnight. It was every single step that built up to that stage. So in this game, true authenticity is the most valuable currency.”
Eubank has his own set of blinkers on and is determined to be his own man. He clearly has so much respect for his fighting relatives, Chris Eubank Snr and Jnr, and while he can do so many things similar to them, including the vault over the top rope to enter the ring, he is content doing his own thing.
“It’s about going in there and dominating, with the fighting. The flips are fun but I’m focused on going in there and getting my man out of there. This is the true art form. I’m interested in breaking him down and taking him out.”
He has done some work on Wagner, too, and his overall goal is to get the opportunity to fight for a world title. Wagner has boxed at a decent level, but was stopped in seven by David Papot, who recently gave Liam Paro a tough night.
“So he’s top 15 in the world,’ Eubank assesses. “A lot of these guys aren’t facing top 15-type of opposition. He’s top 15. It puts me in prime position to go in and win a world title. This is going to be the most important fight of the year for me. The most important fight of my career. Every fight is your most important fight but this one really aligns me and puts me in position for my dreams… why I come into the sport to become a world champion. This puts me back in prime position and I’m excited to go in there and put on a statement performance and set up a huge year in 2026.”
And Eubank knows that with Saudi money and the impact of influencers in boxing, staying ready is key to being able to accept opportunities. Eubank is in shape year-round. He lives the life.
“You know how boxing is operating right now,” he adds. “It’s something I’ve always done, but something that I guess is becoming a little bit more common now with the way that boxing is moving… It’s exciting, the game right now. It’s all opening up and the biggest fights, they’re not far away. Some of the biggest fights in the sport, the world champions, those fights are only around the corner now. And I've been chasing the big fights.
“I’m calling for the biggest fights out there. I want to mix it with the best in the world because I believe that I’m one of the best in the world. And I believe that going up against those guys, I’ll get the opportunity to show it.”
