Chris Eubank Jr wants to be first posh world champion after coming to the brutal sport from private school and luxury
CHRIS EUBANK JR wants to become the first POSH world champion.
And in doing so, prove to his father once and for all he has always had the balls — not just his wealthy backing.
Like most boxing greats, Eubank Sr built his empire up from dirt.
But super-middleweight son Chris, who faces George Groves in Saturday’s semi-final of the World Boxing Super Series, was born in leafy Sussex and went to private school.
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And his dad was desperate to keep him out of the ring having experienced the tragedies that befell Michael Watson — at his hands — and Gerald McClellan against Nigel Benn.
Eubank Jr, 28, said: “I was privileged. I lived in a big house and went to a good school. I had everything I needed — that’s not your typical boxer’s life.
“I don’t know any fighter who has had that background and been super successful. It’s testament to how much I love it.”
As a test, Eubank’s dad dumped him in the Las Vegas desert — with a chip on his shoulder and target on his back — to earn his stripes. And Chris Jr said: “It was ballsy but also career-defining.
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“Vegas is a lot of the reason I am the fighter I am today. It is full of hardship and pain.
“I was a 17-year-old English kid walking into a gym. Floyd Mayweather was there, all these other world champions were there — and I’m there alone.
“They would look at me and say, ‘Who does this kid think he is? His dad is Chris Eubank but that does not give him the right to be here — let’s test him’.
“It was painful and tough and I would go home in pain and beaten up. But I’d be back there after school the next day.
“My father wanted to know if I had it as he had stopped me boxing for a number of years.
“This was my test, ‘If you can go out there and survive then I will support you and understand you really want this’. He did not want me to box because of the dangers and the sacrifices you need to make.
“Most fighters grow up with nothing. They come from poverty, crime, broken homes and boxing is all they have.
“If they don’t make it in boxing then they are nothing — that is their drive.
“That is one reason my father was reluctant to let me start. He didn’t know if I had the heart to take my beatings like a man.”
Yet WBA world champ Groves has vowed to beat Eubank in Manchester — and hurt the relationship between dad and son.
The Hammersmith fighter, 29, has even compared the pair to cringey David Brent and Gareth Keenan from The Office. But Eubank Jr said: “It is a good for me that he is focusing on our relationship.
“That means he is not thinking about how to survive — and that’s what he’s going to have to do on the night.”
Groves meanwhile has urged rival James DeGale to hang up his gloves after his shock IBF world title defeat in December.
The champ is certain DeGale’s shoulder surgery and year out of the ring has taken its toll.
Groves beat DeGale — who lost to American Caleb Truax two months ago — early in his career and said: “I watched him against Truax and think he should pack it in.
“He’s had surgery and it doesn’t seem to have worked for him.
“He definitely came back too soon. He’s gone stale. It’s tough.”
“DeGale is not on my bucket list of fights right now.
“If I reach the final of the Super Series, it will take place around June time.
And I don’t think DeGale will be around in June.”
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