Chris Eubank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chris Eubank | ||
|---|---|---|
| Career Snapshot | ||
| Born | August 8, 1966 | |
| Total Fights | 52 | |
| Won | 45 | |
| Lost | 5 | |
| Draws | 2 | |
| Knockouts | 23 | |
| Titles Won | WBO Middleweight,
WBO Super Middleweight |
|
Chris Eubank (August 8, 1966), is a boxing legend and British celebrity.
Contents |
[edit] Eubank the boxer
Born in Dulwich, England, Christopher Livingstone Eubanks (later opting to delete the 's' from his surname, after signing for Barry Hearn in April 1989) spent his early years in Jamaica from the age of two months to six years before returning to England to live in Peckham. Eubank grew up in poverty and his mother left for New York when he was eight years old. After being suspended and expelled from several schools, care homes and boarding schools, Eubank ended up as a homeless thief in his early teens, addicted to alcohol and marijuana, and reportedly a member of a notorious shoplifting gang (a fact he subsequently denied in an interview on with Tim Shaw on Kerrang! Radio). At the age of 16, his father sent him to New York to live with his mother in the South Bronx.
Eubank made a fresh start in the South Bronx, quitting alcohol and marijuana, attending church and studying at Morris High School (he graduated in the summer of 1986). In his spare time he trained at the Jerome Boxing Club on Westchester Avenue (his older brothers, Peter and Simon, who were twins, were both boxers in Peckham). Eubank became obsessed with trying to improve his skills at the boxing gym and trained seven days a week, becoming an amateur boxer and winning the 1984 New York Spanish Golden Gloves. He then reached the semi-finals of the 1985 New York Daily News Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden, which is where his reputation for controversy began as he hit the headlines for the wrong reasons after biting his opponent's shoulder. However, boxing helped give Eubank discipline and direction during his tough teenage years.
Eubank turned professional after running up a $250 telephone bill that his mother could not afford to pay. He made his debut at the Atlantis Hotel against Timmy Brown, shortly after his 19th birthday. He won over four rounds on points, and four more four-rounders followed (all in Atlantic City) with four more points wins. He finally returned to the UK in January 1988, making Brighton (where his brothers Peter and Simon had settled) his adopted home. He became obsessed with becoming a world champion. In October 1988, when he was 10 and 0 as a professional boxer, Eubank first started calling out Nigel Benn, and they would become arch-rivals.
His vault over the top rope (he first vaulted over the top rope on his professional debut, and every fight after) and trademark posturing became the stuff of legend, and he had a reputation for controversy. He kept his unbeaten record for a very long time, and was the man everybody loved to hate due to his arrogance. In 1990 he beat highly rated Brazilian Reginaldo Dos Santos in 20 seconds to win an inter-continental title and a world title shot, then won the WBO world middleweight title against Nigel Benn in a legendary epic battle. In 1991 he was involved in one of the greatest fights of all-time at White Hart Lane after moving up in weight to challenge for a super-middleweight crown, where he sent the ill-fated Michael Watson into a coma and contemplated quitting the sport.
After injuring Watson with a devastating uppercut, Eubank never again showed his desire to win by knockout, and became a phenomenal 'out-fighter', winning many fights on points and retaining his WBO world super-middleweight title. He never again fought at middleweight, where he had been an undefeated world champion, and so lost the opportunity to have his name rank alongside middleweight legends such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvellous Marvin Hagler, yet Eubank rose to become the top ranked super-middle in the world. Nigel Benn moved to the heavier weight to become WBC champion, and the pair would again engage in a thrilling contest watched by billions, which resulted in a draw.
Eubank revelled in his role as the games great showman, with 20 world title fights in a row before finally losing. He lost in his 43rd fight, having accepted at short notice to fight Steve Collins. He would make this mistake again when trying to regain his title, when he chose to fight a young and fit Joe Calzaghe having not trained, the finale of his middle and super-middleweight career, which he ended with an impressive 45-3 win/loss record.
His comeback fights against Carl Thompson at cruiserweight saw an ageing, once retired Eubank bravely lose to a young champion of a much heavier weight than what Chris had fought at for a decade. The two matches saw fight fans finally warm to him due to the courage and bravery that had long gone missing since the first Benn and second Watson fights.
Eubank was an undefeated world middleweight champion, and world super-middleweight champion who was only defeated in the twilight of his great career. His first fight against Nigel Benn and the Michael Watson rematch rank in the top ten boxing matches of all time, and he is undoubtedly a legend of British boxing. He will one day be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
[edit] Eubank the celebrity
Away from boxing, Eubank comes across as an eccentric. He speaks with a lisp, dresses impeccably (in jodhpurs, bowler hat and riding boots, and famously sports a monocle), drives unusual vehicles (including a customised Harley Davidson, a Hummer and an American-style truck cab) and carries a cane.
In 1991 and 1993 he won the Britain's Best Dressed Man award, given by the Menswear Association of Great Britain. In 1998 and 2001 he won the Gold Tie Pin Award. In 1993 and 1995 he won the Daily Express Best Dressed Sportsman award.
In 1996, he was the guest presenter on Top of the Pops the week Suggs from Madness was at number six with a song called Cecilia.
Eubank and his wife, Karron, have four children. In 2003, they invited television cameras to follow their lives for nine months; the resulting show, At Home With The Eubanks, was broadcast on the UK television channel Channel Five. In 2001, Eubank appeared in the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother on the UK television channel Channel Four. In the 2003 Channel Four poll, 100 Worst Britons We Love To Hate, Eubank was ranked 96th.
Karron petitioned for divorce from Eubank in August 2005.
In a poll published by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Eubank was voted the second most eccentric star, being beaten by Björk.
He is the Lord of the Manor of Brighton, although this is a purchased Title, rather than a Royal appointment. He has used the ancient right of this position to appoint a Town crier.
[edit] In court
Eubank's colourful personality has led him into the courtroom on two occasions. In 1989 Eubank performed a citizen's arrest of a jewellery thief. On September 1, 2005, Eubank was found guilty of taking and driving a vehicle without permission. This related to an incident in Brighton in which Eubank had climbed into a lorry making a delivery of beer and moved it from its position blocking the road. Eubank was trying to take his children to school at the time. He received a £450 fine and received six endorsement points on his driving licence. He was cleared of the stiffer charge of aggravated vehicle-taking.
[edit] Bankruptcy
In November 2005, Eubank was declared bankrupt, owing £1.3 million in taxes. [1]
He was also involved in a car crash in which a man died. He was driving his Range Rover with 2 passengers when the car did not respond accordingly. According to his autobiography, Eubank was going at around 50 mph. He was cleared of any wrong doing. After the incident (which took place after the Watson fight), Eubank had a man walk up to him and spit in his face, calling him a "murderer" whilst he was sitting in his car at traffic lights.
[edit] Autobiography
In 2004, Eubank's self-titled autobiography was published.
[edit] Conversion to Islam
In 1997, Eubank converted to Islam [2]
"When I realised I had sense, I was on my mother's knee in church, so I was brought up with God being the cornerstone of my life, and my understanding of Islam is that if you are a good Christian then you are a Muslim. This view some would not agree with, however this is my view. So long as you believe in doing good and not promoting badness then you are God's man or woman". - Chris Eubank, June 21, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- The Times, page 22, 2nd September 2005.
