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Last edited by JUYJUY; 06-28-2005, 10:46 PM. -
twats twats twatsLast edited by JUYJUY; 06-28-2005, 10:46 PM. -
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Great Eubank story:
The fallout from Saturday 18th April surprisingly didn't feature conversation about Naseem Hamed, but tongues are wagging about a man who was winning world titles when Naz was a child: Chris Eubank.
While the main event on the 18th was Hamed's effortless decimation of Wilfredo Vasquez, Eubank appeared on the undercard in a vain attempt to win the WBO cruiserweight title. Hamed's win was ruthlessly one – sided, but fight fans on this side of the pond have followed Naz for long enough not to have been surprised by his impressiveness on the night.
Eubank on the other hand spent most of his career posing his way through a forgettable series of title defenses against nondescript opposition. It almost appears as if he now realizes what talent he possesses and has finally decided to use it. His last two fights, against WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe and WBO cruiserweight champion Carl Thompson were the most exciting fights Eubank has featured in since his two - fight series' against Michael Watson and Nigel Benn earlier this decade.
Unfortunately for him, his legs and reflexes are not what they once were. Neither is his psyche. On Saturday Chris fought twelve hard rounds, lost a unanimous points decision and spent the night in hospital looking like he'd been mugged in a dark alleyway. A few years ago he would have knocked Thompson out early and drove home to his wife and children.
Picture this: An American footballer takes possession of the ball and weaves skillfully through a field of players. When he reaches the end zone he stops, turns around and hands the ball to an opposing player. He still has nightmares about the last time he scored a touchdown, and he daren't cross that line again.
Since Eubank stopped Michael Watson and watched the tragedy which followed, he has never been able to finish a hurt opponent. He could have stopped Thompson on at least three occasions Saturday, but chose not to. No matter how much his team are losing by, or how much work he had to do to get to the end zone, he just can't score that touchdown.
Eubank is a notorious eccentric. When he got the all clear to leave hospital after the Thompson fight he ordered a £5, 000 designer suit to be delivered to the hospital in a limousine, put it on and checked out. One sports writer saw him stopping at a service station for petrol some years back. After filling up, Eubank paid for his petrol and bought a bottle of spring water. He then proceeded to pour a drop of the spring water onto his hands, rub them clean and throw the rest of the luxury H2O away.
He owns twin, mock - Tudor mansions in Brighton, England, the grounds of which are decorated by a fleet of vehicles. Apart from his famous 12 - wheel American truck (which earned him a parking ticket when he drove it to a press conference for the Calzaghe fight and parked it on a city street) and his Harley Davidson motorcycle, he has an Aston Martin Volonte and a brace of Range Rovers. He bought the title "Lord Of Brighton" (which means nothing apart from, seriously, the inheritance of 4,000 herring and 3 cows per annum!) for $45, 000, and once tried unsuccessfully to buy Brighton beach (a public property) and make it his own – imagine the uproar it would cause if Mike Tyson tried to buy San Francisco bay and kick the residents of San Francisco off his new land!
I believe that Chris is not so much eccentric and flamboyant as desperate for attention and acceptance. He is an honest man, and while many of his comments on boxing have repelled people, the fact is that they are often true. He says what other fighters won't.
Having survived his exhilarating wars with Benn and Watson, Eubank struck a £10m. deal (then huge money for a British super middleweight) with Sky TV to defend his title ten times in a year. This series is forgettable apart from his last defense against Steve Collins, which he lost in Cork, Ireland. This fight became the reason why Steve Collins left promoter Barry Hearn and why Hearn sued Collins, unsuccessfully, for breach of contract.
Hearn promoted both Collins and Eubank, and it was alleged during the court case that he went to great lengths, again unsuccessfully, to ensure that his big money contract man won the fight. It was alleged that the referee was told who Hearn wanted to win the fight and had his hotel room vandalized, along with other hospitable acts. He hasn't refereed a WBO fight since. But don't forget that this is the same Barry Hearn who handles Jose Luis Lopez, the man who earned a draw against Ike Quartey 48 hours after the initial decision was announced.
My favorite story surrounding the fight was recounted by Tony Quinn. Quinn, a Dubliner, had been hired by Collins to help him prepare mentally for the daunting task of challenging the then unbeaten Eubank. Quinn believed Collins had confidence problems, and he focused on making Steve believe he could win. Just before the weigh – in, he told Collins to reply to any questions by shouting "I'm gonna win" at the top of his voice.
It was no secret that Collins had had problems making the weight, and come weigh – in time he was still 1lb over. Eubank, upon spotting Collins, said, "you're leaving it very late to get your weight down Collins." With that, Collins stormed over to Eubank and roared "I'm gonna win!" As Quinn said, if you ever saw a black man turning white it was Eubank that day. Quinn was within earshot when Eubank turned to his trainer (Ronnie Davies) and said, "I've been boxing for years and I've never seen anybody up for a fight that much." Davies replied by saying Collins looked like a man hypnotized. Next, a British sports broadcaster approached Quinn for an interview, and Quinn happily gave an interview on how he had hypnotized Collins for this fight (he hadn't) and how Collins could not lose. Eubank and Davies looked on, open – mouthed.
These mind – games may or may not have affected Eubank's performance, but either way he did suffer his first pro defeat. I will not deny that Chris clearly had clear opportunities to finish Collins only to back off and allow him to recover, this was due to flashbacks of Michael Watson. But in reality, Collins won fair and square because he was aloud to shake off the effects of being wobbled and gratefully came back at the posturing Eubank. Chris was closely outpointed again due to simply being outworked again in a rematch with Collins, and announced his retirement. A year later he made a comeback as a light heavyweight based in, wait for it, Egypt. And he promoted his own fights in the East, even being spotted putting up posters for one of his fights! After two bouts there however he realized it was not the way to go and returned to his old base in England. The title shot against Calzaghe arose when Collins himself retired and vacated Chris' old belt, but Calzaghe was just too young, hungry, fast and powerful for the gallant old pro. Although having said that, Chris did take the fight at short notice and had to 'dry out' to make the weight, and yes Chris was getting the better of the fully-prepared Calzaghe on plenty of occasions throughout the fight, but Chris was just outworked that night and not busy enough.Comment
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Chris' last two fights have been supporting contests to Naseem Hamed main events. There has been a considerable amount of needle between Hamed and his fellow showman. It has been alleged that Eubank copied Hamed's flamboyant tricks after seeing the young protégé training in his Sheffield gym, although one would assume the opposite given the age difference between the two. Although they once got on well, Naz is now in a position to steal Chris' treasured limelight and this has driven a wedge between the two.
Naz was seen by many taunting Eubank from ringside during his challenge for Calzaghe's title, and Eubank even paused at one stage in the fight to turn and shout, "shut up Naseem!" The rivalry came to a head at Christmas when Eubank and Naz had their much – publicized airport bust – up. Eubank, when recounting the incident, was asked if he hit Hamed. He quite humorously replied, "I raised my hand to slap him. I wouldn't hit him – he's what? Five foot two?" What was that Prodigy song called again?
Although Naz watched Eubank losing twice on cards which saw the Prince winning, there is no doubt that Eubank stole the show on both occasions. His sheer courage and heart gained him more admirers in defeat than he ever earned while he was winning. It is said that Steve Collins became the most popular Irishman in Britain the night he dethroned Eubank. Most fight fans only sat through Eubank title fights in the hope that he would lose. Now that he is losing though, they cheer him on.
It is his craving to stay in the limelight for as long as possible which may be the undoing of Eubank. His heart, rock solid chin and slowing legs are a recipe for brain damage, and he absorbed more punishment in his last two fights than ever before in his career. His recent popularity is doubtless feeding the Eubank ego however, and this giant fix of his favorite drug is undoubtedly what draws him back time and time again. That and maybe a large tax bill...
I would like to see Chris retire with his faculties intact and pave a new path in life. Having said that however, we writers have no right to tell a fighter what to do or how to do it. Whether Eubank retires or carries on is his decision, he is well aware of the risks and is being paid respectably for practicing his trade. And maybe he feels the limelight is worth the risk.
I wonder if he was watching the televised boxing from York Hall in London last Saturday (May 2). Topping the bill was super bantamweight Spencer Oliver, who was expected to make easy work of his fourth European title defence, but who ended the night tragically on a life support machine. His hungry opponent, Serge Devakov, boxed superbly and rocked Oliver several times before stopping him in the tenth. Though Oliver had been off the floor as early as the first round, the right hook which he caught in the tenth carried a definite air of finality.
Oliver rose from the canvas only to collapse again and was stretchered from the ring unconscious having received a good 20 minutes of medical attention. Though the sport is undoubtedly becoming safer, it becomes harder to justify with each new tragedy. Oliver has been featured on these pages as "one to watch" in the super bantamweight division, was named "Young British Boxer of the Year" by the Boxing Writer's Club and I had him marked as a certain future world champion. He won the European title after just ten fights, and has since dismissed top shelf opposition such as Vincenzo Belcastro and Jose Luis Bueno. Oliver's exciting style earned him many followers, but his career has been brought to a sickening end.
Michael Watson was rushed to hospital after his fateful loss to Chris Eubank - the wrong hospital. He had to be carried back into the ambulance and driven to a hospital that had nuero - surgical facilities. Oliver was turned away from Charing Cross Hospital on Saturday as no surgeons were free to operate on him, and he had to be taken to the National Neurological Hospital in Bloomsbury. The longer the period between the fighter losing consciousness and being operated upon, the greater the potential for lasting brain damage. So when will ringside medics realise what a good idea it is to get on the phone and arrange for adequate staff and facilities to be available in the right hospital before sending a fighter off in an ambulance?
I was impressed at the resources available at the York Hall on Saturday - even an anaestethist was present at ringside. But when disaster strikes, everything needs to be put quickly into place for the sake of boxers and boxing. A blood clot was removed from 22 - year - old Oliver's brain and thankfully he has come off his ventilator and has been speaking to family members from his hospital bed. For the sake of Spencer, his girlfriend and their two - year - old son, let's hope he makes a full recovery.
Another loss to the sport is P.J. Gallagher. The 25 - year - old was forced to take a break from the ring and relinquish his British title fourteen months ago thanks to a condition which depleted his testosterone levels. He dominated the super featherweight division at domestic level and had earned no. 1 status in Europe by the time his condition - possibly a result of over - training - took hold.
P.J. has failed to recover fully and announced his retirement from boxing on May 1st. He will be remembered as one of the most exciting British fighters of the 90's, and he never failed to provide his loyal fans with value for money. We wish him a successful future, in which he plans to become a boxing trainer.
Here's the link - http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxin...-98.htm#cusackComment
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this yeast infected piece of brit history belongs in tha HISTORY section. NOT nonstopboxing..Comment
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Originally posted by JUYJUYTimothy Brown vs. Christopher Eubanks
154 lb. weight division
Sands Hotel Casino, Atlantic City
10. 03. 1985
Eubanks UD (4)
A performance pleasing to the eye from Eubanks who leaped into the ring before the fight and generally showed assurance in his movement. He seemed to chose the right moments to lead before quickly leaping backwards out of the way of any retaliation shots from Brown. Both men were making their professional debuts, but only Brown showed any sign of nerves. Eubanks, the 1984 N.Y City Golden Gloves Champion, was precise and poetic in his moves, as well as barely showing any emotion his face.
Do you ever post anything other than about Eubank or British fighters???Comment
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