Eubank: 'Silly' Calzaghe, 'Fantastic' Haye

[coghaugen]

Eubank on Calzaghe

He broke all my records, so all power to him. He's a legend. In any avenue of lifemanship, there is always somebody that little bit better just around the corner. It has to be that way or the world would stop revolving.

Joe's retired for now, but he's not retired (as) a great figher. He's only won. It's how you handle defeat after winning so much, and if you come back and beat your conqueror and win world titles and great fights. That's greatness. Like Hagler and Ali had to. I tried and failed.

But then I'd already met my master in Michael Watson in our rematch fight; that night he battered me from pillar to post, and everything I hit Michael with - nothing, he kept on coming.

I accepted defeat not after the fight but actually during the fight itself. That's integrity, and the highest rank you can get, in any way of being, is through integrity.

I got up to carry on in a fight I couldn't win. The sort of power I acquired to throw that one shot, the sort of power I required to win the fight, even though I had nothing left, can only be acquired if you are truly honest.

I got back up to take more punches.

I'm shocked Joe has retired now, because he's a very undamaged fighter and there are big names out there to pull in big money against: (Antonio) Tarver, (Bernard) Hopkins. I think it's silly.

You think I was going to go in with Mike McCallum directly after the internal damage Nigel Benn inflicted on me? I didn't have Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard and I wasn't undamaged. Why retire?

Eubank on Haye

I'm a big fan of his. I think he's fantastic. I like his style, in and out of the ring. The things he says - that's not a bad way to go about your business because it brings audience.

It brings audience because the public will want to see if he's going to be the man he says he is.

If he's going to win the world heavyweight title, he's got to keep those hands down. Box with your hands up and you have to move your hands away from your face to throw a punch, and that's when you get hit.

The sensible thing to do is to box with your hands down, because it makes your opponent think - and while he's doing that, you are hitting him.

[hookoutofhell]

thanks for that man nice little read.

eubanks always has something interesting to say, his earlier comments on fame, women and money killing the hunger were a good read as well.

as for the comments about joe i think joes hunger had just run out, it happens, besides for calzaghe RJJ and retirement have been loitering around his mind for a while now. in his mind he has nothing more to prove and when that hunger isn't there then you risk getting hurt. if hes no longer hungry then why not reitire because if you continue fighting without the desire and hunger then you get hurt.

eubank was different he loved the spotlight and loved the attention thats why i think he found it hard to give up the sport.

hes right about haye but i think haye should have gathered a bit more momentum by taking a few more fights and establishing himself as the no.1 contender. his extended break has meant that some of the steam around him has disappeared but hopefully the long lay off will do him some good.

[Chr0nic]

silly indeed

[Sparked_1985]

Eubank there; the only man in the world recommending someone to fight with their hands down.

Love that guy.

[coghaugen]

Eubank there; the only man in the world recommending someone to fight with their hands down.

Love that guy.

I thought that was ****ing brilliant.

[gingeralbino]

Eubank there; the only man in the world recommending someone to fight with their hands down.

Love that guy.

Not just someone, a guy who's chin isnt great, who's fighting the heavyweight champion with one of the highest KO%s in the sports history!

[Gojira]

He is right. joe wasted his talent on quite a few bums. i think he could ofbeaten anyone in the division.

[Sparked_1985]

Not just someone, a guy who's chin isnt great, who's fighting the heavyweight champion with one of the highest KO%s in the sports history!

But; all the time he'll be hitting him?

lol.

That said, some fighters look better with their hands down. Joe Calzaghe looked less vulnerable when his hands were on his hips taking the piss.

[coghaugen]

More Eubank Quotes

I had a heavily swollen jaw for the first week of every unit of heavy sparring, that's 52 fights. So for a year of my life my jaw was swelled up. I took more punches to my head than my jaw.

I wasn't gifted enough to be sharp without heavy sparring. Plus it gave my flesh immunity. Usually I was back in the gymnasium on the Monday morning after the Saturday night fight. But it took me three weeks to recover from Benn 1 and four weeks to recover from Watson 2.

I never damaged my hands though because I punched correctly.

On Watson first fight

Michael instigated that I had brought the business into disrepute - through the vocally honest integrity that I was boxing for finance and family, first and foremost - and that I was working against the integrity of legends like Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, who had helped raise the profile and perception of the sport.

This annoyed me. Michael also made it quite personal, through the sheer baseness of his comments, which annoyed me, too, as did his lack of perspective.

For the first time in my career, I took my eye off the subject matter, that ball of objectivity which was to simply score more points than your opponent then shake his hand and pat his back.

I wanted to humiliate him. It didn't matter that I was going into the fight with a broken sternum and that they couldn't detect my blood pressure through lack of hydration.

I took all of the first six rounds with ease, won them all without question. It didn't matter that I could physically feel my brain rattling around inside my skull - I remained the coolest man in the arena, with all my front.

I started to panic when I realised I hadn't gone into the fight with objectivity, which was my whole thing, and this created abit of a summer-long fracas, in the end.

On Collins first fight

I lost because for the first time in my career I went out to hurt my opponent.

On the Bronx

I went there not knowing what to expect, to escape the system in England, but it was nightmarish. After 10, 12 days I wanted to go home. But there was no way out. I had no money and I was too scared to steal there.

I went to the gym, to school and to church to keep myself off the streets, which were too scarey. I threw myself into my studies, threw myself into my training. Boxing was a way out.

Boxing got me to Manhattan, which was a whole new world. I wouldn't have seen it without boxing, I worked my way there as an amateur, worked my way up. I saw it as a way to see the world.

I wanted to work my way into the boxing team and see the world. It was my only means at the time. But then I had a school telephone bill to cough up, where I'd been using the school phone to call a girl, and boxing was my only means to pay up - through turning professional.

I wasn't simply the best, I just pretended to be.

[Shanks]

Eubanks speaks with suth elenquensse