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Chris Eubanks started boxing in 1982 at the Jerome Boxing Club in the South Bronx, he had been getting into fights on the street all the time because he had strong moral values and was very outspoken and too confident for his own good, and was getting beaten up badly often. He needed to learn how to fight so that he could defend himself. He worked as a cleaner at the Jerome because he couldn't afford the joining cost.. until they finally let him join in. Others at the Jerome stable included Alex Ramos, Aaron Davis, Dennis Milton, Dennis Cruz, Angel Cruz and Juan Ramon Cruz. In his first ever amateur fight, he was stopped inside the first 30 seconds.. but two years of nothing but hard work later and he fought that same guy who he had fought in his first ever fight and such was the skills that Eubanks had developed in those two years that the guy couldn't even lay a glove on him this time.
Under the name Chris Eubanks, he won the 1984 New York Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden at 139 lbs., Mike Tyson also won that tournament at 200+ lbs. and became friends with Eubanks. Such was Eubanks excitement at reaching the final of the NYC Golden Gloves that he leaped over the top rope into the ring for the final and that then became a pre-fight ritual for every boxing match for the rest of his life. Eubanks incredibly had NO trainer at the time, but he reached the semi-finals of the US National Golden Gloves after turning up on his own in 1984 at 156 lbs. where he warmed up with Tyson (200+ champion), Evander Holyfield (178 lbs. champion) and Kevin Rooney (Tyson's trainer). Tyson then took him to Gleason's Gym where he sparred with Kevin Rooney and met up with Rooney's former sparring partner Maximo Pierret, who became his trainer. Eubanks also had won the 1984 Spanish Golden Gloves. Then, Eubanks became the first man that Patrick Ford ever trained.
Under the guidance of rookie trainers Ford and Pierret, Eubanks won the 1985 New York Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden at 156 lbs. in style, and he regularly sparred with Rid**** Bowe at Gleason's (Bowe won the 85 NYC Golden Gloves at 165 lbs.). Eubanks' other sparring partners at Gleason's included Glenwood Brown, Steve Frank and Raul Frank. Eubanks only turned professional in the first place to pay for a telephone bill that he had clocked up that his mother couldn't afford, and for the first three and half years of his pro 'career' (he had no intention of making a career out of boxing) he only ever fought when he needed some quick cash. After graduating from Morris High School, he had moved back to England in 1987.
Eubanks changed his name to Eubank (deleting the 's') in 1989 and in his next fight was matched with WBC Continental Americas Champion Anthony Logan, on Nigel Benn's undercard, and few gave him much chance (Logan was using Eubank as just a 'warm-up' for a rematch with Benn). Logan had gave Benn hell in his previous fight, he had given Benn a beating and it was a step-up in class for Eubank. But that night is memorable for an incredible performance from Eubank, he entered the fight as an arrogant novice but came out of the fight as a world-class boxer. He won every round against Logan and didn't even bother to sit down between rounds, he did a lot of strutting and posing with a smug look on his face, it was live on terrestrial ITV at prime time and he stole the show. Barry Hearn signed him that night and the rest is history, Eubank realised that he could make a lot of money from the boxing game and took it seriously from then.
'Simply The Best' had a 20-0-0 record by 1990 and hooked up with Brighton's Ronnie Davies as his trainer, and then stepped up in class against WBC International Champion Hugo Corti, but with Eubank having got in some quality sparring with quality fighters like Mike McCallum (April/March 89) and Rod Douglas (July/August/September/October 89) in preparation for their fights with Herol Graham, and having just sparred Graham himself and Johnny Nelson when Brendan Ingle (good friend of Ronnie Davies) paid Eubank £300 to go to Sheffield for six weeks, there wasn't much more that Corti could show him.
What drummed up the Benn fight was the ludicrously dangerous, hands down gesturing to the referee when Chris thought that Milo was taking too much punishment, and then the absolute genious camera positioning after his stunning 20 second KO of Dos Santos that basically said to Benn 'check this out .. this is what I do ..' as the referee was trying to revive poor old Reginaldo. He developed that legendary rivalry with Benn, and remained undefeated for 43 fights with 19 world championship wins and never even having been knocked down. At his best, he was poetry in motion. And he was ofcourse the game's great showman, full of controversy, and famous for his use of a monocle amongst other things.
There you have it.
Under the name Chris Eubanks, he won the 1984 New York Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden at 139 lbs., Mike Tyson also won that tournament at 200+ lbs. and became friends with Eubanks. Such was Eubanks excitement at reaching the final of the NYC Golden Gloves that he leaped over the top rope into the ring for the final and that then became a pre-fight ritual for every boxing match for the rest of his life. Eubanks incredibly had NO trainer at the time, but he reached the semi-finals of the US National Golden Gloves after turning up on his own in 1984 at 156 lbs. where he warmed up with Tyson (200+ champion), Evander Holyfield (178 lbs. champion) and Kevin Rooney (Tyson's trainer). Tyson then took him to Gleason's Gym where he sparred with Kevin Rooney and met up with Rooney's former sparring partner Maximo Pierret, who became his trainer. Eubanks also had won the 1984 Spanish Golden Gloves. Then, Eubanks became the first man that Patrick Ford ever trained.
Under the guidance of rookie trainers Ford and Pierret, Eubanks won the 1985 New York Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden at 156 lbs. in style, and he regularly sparred with Rid**** Bowe at Gleason's (Bowe won the 85 NYC Golden Gloves at 165 lbs.). Eubanks' other sparring partners at Gleason's included Glenwood Brown, Steve Frank and Raul Frank. Eubanks only turned professional in the first place to pay for a telephone bill that he had clocked up that his mother couldn't afford, and for the first three and half years of his pro 'career' (he had no intention of making a career out of boxing) he only ever fought when he needed some quick cash. After graduating from Morris High School, he had moved back to England in 1987.
Eubanks changed his name to Eubank (deleting the 's') in 1989 and in his next fight was matched with WBC Continental Americas Champion Anthony Logan, on Nigel Benn's undercard, and few gave him much chance (Logan was using Eubank as just a 'warm-up' for a rematch with Benn). Logan had gave Benn hell in his previous fight, he had given Benn a beating and it was a step-up in class for Eubank. But that night is memorable for an incredible performance from Eubank, he entered the fight as an arrogant novice but came out of the fight as a world-class boxer. He won every round against Logan and didn't even bother to sit down between rounds, he did a lot of strutting and posing with a smug look on his face, it was live on terrestrial ITV at prime time and he stole the show. Barry Hearn signed him that night and the rest is history, Eubank realised that he could make a lot of money from the boxing game and took it seriously from then.
'Simply The Best' had a 20-0-0 record by 1990 and hooked up with Brighton's Ronnie Davies as his trainer, and then stepped up in class against WBC International Champion Hugo Corti, but with Eubank having got in some quality sparring with quality fighters like Mike McCallum (April/March 89) and Rod Douglas (July/August/September/October 89) in preparation for their fights with Herol Graham, and having just sparred Graham himself and Johnny Nelson when Brendan Ingle (good friend of Ronnie Davies) paid Eubank £300 to go to Sheffield for six weeks, there wasn't much more that Corti could show him.
What drummed up the Benn fight was the ludicrously dangerous, hands down gesturing to the referee when Chris thought that Milo was taking too much punishment, and then the absolute genious camera positioning after his stunning 20 second KO of Dos Santos that basically said to Benn 'check this out .. this is what I do ..' as the referee was trying to revive poor old Reginaldo. He developed that legendary rivalry with Benn, and remained undefeated for 43 fights with 19 world championship wins and never even having been knocked down. At his best, he was poetry in motion. And he was ofcourse the game's great showman, full of controversy, and famous for his use of a monocle amongst other things.
There you have it.
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