{"id":228086,"date":"2025-10-21T00:15:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T00:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/228086\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T00:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T00:15:10","slug":"inside-the-mind-of-chris-eubank-jr-british-boxings-enigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/228086\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Mind of Chris Eubank Jr \u2013\u00a0British Boxing\u2019s Enigma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Eubank Jr<\/a>\u2019s eyes betray nothing but everything all at once. They are expressionless but meaningful; cold but thoughtful. Even through the pixels of a computer screen, one can detect both pain and hope. <\/p>\n

The 36-year-old is speaking from his adopted home of Dubai, having spent the past week in Brazil hanging out with his friend Neymar, the global football star. Whether travelling in secure convoy or by helicopter, Neymar showed the boxer around S\u00e3o Paulo, the trip leaving a mark on Eubank. \u2018It\u2019s impressive to see how much he\u2019s loved in that country,\u2019 he says. \u2018He\u2019s like a god out there.\u2019<\/p>\n

But the fighter is not a football<\/a> fan \u2013 the two merely have similar interests, having met at a poker tournament in Spain a few years ago. \u2018We\u2019ve been good mates ever since,\u2019 adds Eubank, talking via Zoom from a spacious apartment where he is surrounded by neutral colours on the walls and curtains.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

It was years before meeting Neymar that Eubank was first introduced to the appeal of poker. In the boxer<\/a>\u2019s home town of Brighton, a young Eubank visited the Grosvenor Casino and had no idea what he was doing. <\/p>\n

\u2018I jumped in at the deep end. I would buy in for 50 quid, and if I won 10, 20 quid, I was over the moon,\u2019 he smiles. \u2018I was like, \u201cWow, this is amazing\u201d. Then I was losing, week after week, and eventually I kind of just figured it out.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Now Eubank sits at tables where the buy-in is \u00a330,000 and has won as much as \u00a3350,000 in a hand. \u2018I\u2019ve come a long way from the \u00a350 buy-in in my local casino in Brighton, that\u2019s for sure,\u2019 he chuckles. But, asked about his passion for \u2018gambling<\/a>\u2019, Eubank takes exception to the term. He is big on skill and intelligence, not luck. <\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like that word, \u201cgambling\u201d,\u2019 he shrugs, using his fingers to invert the commas. \u2018To me, gambling is going to a casino, going to a roulette table and saying to yourself, \u201cMy daughter\u2019s birthday is on the 19th. I\u2019m going to put \u00a31,000 on 19.\u201d You put your \u00a31,000 down, the guy spins the ball and you\u2019re sitting there praying. That is gambling. I don\u2019t do that. <\/p>\n

‘Gambling is when you\u2019re playing against the casino: blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat, slot machines. When you\u2019re playing against the house, the house always has the edge. In poker, you\u2019re playing against your peers, your mates. In my case, I\u2019m playing against non-professional players, so there\u2019s no massive edge in anyone\u2019s favour. It\u2019s a game of skill, of reading your opponent. It\u2019s a game of deception, bluffing; having a poker face.\u2019<\/p>\n

With that, Eubank points out how some abilities are transferable from his profession as a prizefighter. The similarities don\u2019t end with the need for a good poker face. It\u2019s also \u201cthe heart pump,\u201d as Eubank calls it.<\/p>\n

\u2018I get that in a big hand where I know I can win or lose a lot of money, or I\u2019ve got to make a huge decision,\u2019 he explains. \u2018I\u2019ve got to decide if this guy\u2019s bluffing me for 100k or I\u2019ve got to put 100k in, and I\u2019ve got nothing and I\u2019ve got to wait to see if he\u2019s going to fold or call.<\/p>\n

\u2018These are all positions where your heart\u2019s racing and you\u2019ve got to keep that poker face, just like in a fight when you\u2019re hurt or you\u2019re cut. You can\u2019t show emotion. You can\u2019t let anyone know what\u2019s going on in your head and what you\u2019re really feeling.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"chris<\/p>\n

Eubank thrives on walking the line of intensity between pain and joy. He trod it finely in April when he won one of the fights of the year against Conor Benn<\/a> in front of 67,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.<\/p>\n

The sons of British boxing legends Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr shared a violent and pulsating 12-round battle that saw Eubank take victory \u2013 then spend the next two nights in hospital recovering.<\/p>\n

The bout had been two and a half years in the making, after Benn\u2019s failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs saw the grudge match postponed when it was just a couple of days away in 2022. They will fight a second time on 15 November, at the same venue.<\/p>\n

Eubank expects the rematch to up the ante on an already intense rivalry.<\/p>\n

\u2018People don\u2019t change overnight,\u2019 he says. \u2018[Benn\u2019s] an emotional guy. He has hate in his heart that\u2019s not all of a sudden just going to disappear, so I imagine we will get that same energy.\u2019<\/p>\n

Eubank momentarily considers whether he might go so far as to say he enjoyed playing his part in one of the year\u2019s toughest contests.<\/p>\n

\u2018Do I like it?\u2019 he says, more to himself. \u2018It\u2019s my life. After you do something a certain amount of times, it becomes second nature, even if it\u2019s painful and dangerous. When you\u2019re in those positions you\u2019ve trained all your life for, you know how to get through them. I\u2019ve built up a tolerance so I can thrive in those pressure-cooker moments.<\/p>\n

\u2018Do I enjoy it?\u2019 he asks again, talking about his profession as a whole. \u2018Boxing is not a sport you can do if you\u2019re not fully invested. As soon as you fall out of love with the training and the fighting and the preparation; with the food, the weight cut<\/a>, everything; as soon as you start second-guessing, \u201cWhy am I doing this?\u201d you\u2019re never going to make it. You\u2019re going to get hurt.<\/p>\n

\u2018You can\u2019t just like boxing, you have to be obsessed with it. It\u2019s not about enjoyment. It\u2019s my job. It\u2019s what I\u2019ve got to do to prepare my body for war\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I enjoy great food. I enjoy a great sunset; a nice massage at the end of the day. You don\u2019t really enjoy a seven-mile run<\/a> at six o\u2019clock in the morning. You don\u2019t enjoy getting punched in the mouth in sparring. That is just your life. It\u2019s who you are, and I\u2019m happy that\u2019s what my life is because it brings so much fulfilment, respect, pride and love from people that don\u2019t even know me; money; all these things come with the life I\u2019ve chosen to live.\u2019<\/p>\n

At 36 years old, Eubank has won 35 professional fights, stopped or knocked out 25 opponents and has lost just three times. His father, who held both the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, is both iconic and enigmatic.<\/p>\n

After a three-year period of estrangement, it looked like Chris Eubank Sr would be a notable absence from the fight with Benn. In what became one of the sensational storylines of the night, Sr arrived at the venue in the hours leading up to the match and walked with his son to the ring. It was a show-stealing moment and the pair remain in the midst of a reconciliation. Today, it\u2019s not a topic he wants to dwell on.<\/p>\n

Eubank Sr did not want his son to box, but Eubank Jr spent many of his formative years building resilience and character in boxing gyms in Las Vegas, Cuba and England. He was pitched in against contenders, champions and veterans and the lessons were hard. Now his life is one of celebrity, fame, eight-figure paydays and five-figure buy-ins.<\/p>\n

Asked what he might miss most when he leaves boxing, he strokes the hair on his chin. \u2018I guess I\u2019ll miss the amazing shape you whip your body into. The week of the fight, you look in the mirror and it\u2019s incredible to see the peak physical condition you\u2019re in. Once you retire, you\u2019ll never get to those levels again. You\u2019ll never feel that superhuman again. <\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll miss stepping into the ring and performing in front of millions of people, in front of the screaming crowd, that feeling of Michael Buffer calling your name out and getting your hand raised.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"chrisMaking the Weight<\/p>\n

\u2018I like the sour ones,\u2019 Eubank beams, helping himself to a sweet between shots for the Men\u2019s Health cover, in an empty London warehouse two weeks on from our Zoom interview. He grazes on Percy Pigs and Haribos, but is happiest when he takes delivery of the Sour Patch Kids packet.<\/p>\n

Eubank swigs from a bottle of water, his muscles looking sleek. He\u2019s around 185lb and, when he fights, he tips the scales chiselled at 160lb. He is a few weeks from starting camp, so his post-fight indulgences of a Domino\u2019s pizza and Krispy Kremes remain a way off. For now, the occasional sweet is as far as he can go.<\/p>\n

When camp escalates and the discipline bites, pre-dawn runs will be followed by work in the gym throughout the morning and then sparring in the afternoon. It\u2019s ironic that Eubank\u2019s taut muscularity is one of the things he\u2019s expecting to miss, for it was the torture of trying to make 160lb \u2013 and missing by just 0.05lb<\/a> \u2013 for the first Benn fight that cost him \u00a3375,000 in a contractual forfeit.<\/p>\n

The risks of Eubank \u2018gambling\u2019 by dropping weight for Benn, who was moving up, were also keenly debated.<\/p>\n

\u2018You know what? Life is a gamble,\u2019 he now admits. \u2018Yes, there are elements of luck in poker, so in that sense you are gambling. You could say there are elements of luck in boxing. Sometimes it can just be a lucky punch; it can be one punch that can change the fight.<\/p>\n

\u2018Some people would say you\u2019re gambling with your health every time you step in the ring, and it\u2019s true. Your health is at risk. But if you\u2019re training, you\u2019re dedicating your life, your mind, your spirit to a certain thing; to boxing.<\/p>\n

\u2018Then, when you get into these rings and you make these weight cuts, then the \u201cgamble\u201d \u2013 as they like to say \u2013 the percentage of things you\u2019re gambling with, it\u2019s lowered. It becomes minute. It becomes a sure thing.\u2019<\/p>\n

How long Eubank will continue this high-stakes life is unsure. After Benn, he retains his ambition to fight the very best, and wants to leave a solid legacy.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve made the bank, my friend,\u2019 he grins, when asked about a money-spinning fight against the likes of Terence Crawford<\/a> or Canelo Alvarez. \u2018I could walk off into the sunset today and I\u2019m set for life, so it\u2019s not about bank any more. Now it\u2019s about leaving behind a legacy I can be proud of.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s about, \u201cHow are you going to be remembered, and what are you going to be remembered for?\u201d A fight like that is something that will leave a legacy that I could be proud of.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m already very proud of the things I\u2019ve done, but that would enhance it. Sharing a ring with the best in the world, that\u2019s an important thing to do, to test yourself. I\u2019ve been testing myself my whole life and that might well be the next test after Conor Benn.\u2019<\/p>\n

But, right now, there is no focus on life after boxing, only an awareness that it might not be too far off. In preparation for such a time, Eubank has a role in the second season of Guy Ritchie\u2019s The Gentlemen on Netflix, and speaks of acting with real joy.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s just an art form that I truly admire,\u2019 he says. It was as a fan that Eubank first visited the set of the hit show to watch the cast filming. At one point, he turned to Ritchie and said, \u2018I\u2019d love to get involved. If you can squeeze me in anywhere, let me know.\u2019 He was like, \u201cI\u2019ll think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks later he said, \u201cAll right, I\u2019ve got somewhere I can put you.\u201d\u2019 Eubank likens the acting experience to a boxing press conference but with one significant difference: film allows him to further his pursuit of perfection.<\/p>\n

\u2018The beautiful thing about acting is that there are many takes,\u2019 he says. \u2018There are many chances. You\u2019ve got one shot in these press conferences. If you fuck up, if you say the wrong thing, if you stutter, you ruin the whole thing and you cannot go back.<\/p>\n

\u2018In acting, you do take after take until it\u2019s perfect and they edit. So, in that sense, the pressure is actually a lot more manageable.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"aLiving With Loss<\/p>\n

Eubank\u2019s role in The Gentlemen is one he hopes he can build from, but the fighter, thoughtful and measured, says there\u2019s no acting from him in real life. \u2018I\u2019m not a character. I\u2019m a real person,\u2019 he insists. \u2018The things I do and say are real. It\u2019s not for clout, it\u2019s not for fame, it\u2019s not for clicks. It\u2019s just me; who I am.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was very misunderstood at the beginning of my career because people didn\u2019t know me,\u2019 he continues. \u2018I didn\u2019t really say too much. I didn\u2019t want to say anything. I didn\u2019t want to talk to journalists or media \u2013 maybe I didn\u2019t know how to \u2013 but I definitely didn\u2019t want to.\u2019<\/p>\n

In time, he\u2019s become more comfortable letting people in. That is never more apparent than when he talks movingly about losing his brother, Sebastian, who tragically died aged just 29 in 2021.<\/p>\n

When asked about how he copes with the loss, Eubank presses his lips together, possibly thinking of closing the question down, but instead he confronts it. The pause is around 10 seconds. It feels longer, but the poker face never falters.<\/p>\n

\u2018Going through something like that \u2013 the loss of a loved one, a close sibling \u2013 it changes your mind and your heart,\u2019 he says, his chin positioned on his hand. \u2018It\u2019s either going to make you or break you. I chose to use this horrible situation to fuel my fire.<\/p>\n

\u2018But it\u2019s tough. And there are a lot of mental things you have to deal with \u2013 it\u2019s either going to stop you in your tracks or push you to keep going, and to be strong.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s very important to have him in my mind and my thoughts whenever I\u2019m going through tough times. Because he was a strong man; an inspirational man. We went through bad times and good times; he was my brother. I just try to live my life and do the things I\u2019m doing the way he would want me to do them, and that gives me fulfilment and peace.\u2019<\/p>\n

Eubank wept his first tears in more than two decades when the grief hit. The tornado of sorrow swept through, leaving him calloused and hardened.<\/p>\n

\u2018I cried for two days straight, and then I never cried again. Emotions, they just don\u2019t have a place in my life\u2019<\/p>\n

‘The things I have to do, the person I have to be a lot of the time, if I think about things, it\u2019s just not an option. And, if it was, I can\u2019t do it. I\u2019m just not built that way. Maybe that\u2019s one of my downfalls. Maybe that\u2019s one of my things I need to change, but I can\u2019t change it.<\/p>\n

\u2018A lot of people maybe need to touch their emotional side and be vulnerable \u2013 I\u2019m not that guy. I never have been and I never will be. But that\u2019s me. I\u2019m a very different guy. I\u2019m a very peculiar case when it comes to how a man should be, how a man should live his life.<\/p>\n

\u2018I wouldn\u2019t tell people to look at how I am and be that way. It only works in specific walks of life.\u2019<\/p>\n

There is no one in Eubank\u2019s world with whom he confides his innermost thoughts. And he has not sought help. \u2018These interviews are the only counselling,\u2019 he says. \u2018They\u2019re the only therapy that I have ever had or will have. These are the only times I ever talk about anything when it comes to my emotions or my feelings, or whatever you want to say.<\/p>\n

\u2018Outside of these interviews, I don\u2019t talk about my feelings to anyone. Who am I going to talk to? I\u2019m not gonna go to a therapist. I\u2019m not gonna sit down with my boys and ask them for advice on how I should feel.<\/p>\n

\u2018My old man was never built like that, to be emotionally involved like that. He was tough. He was strict. He was hard. There\u2019s no one in my life that I have that type of thing with, or that I feel I need to have that type of thing with.<\/p>\n

\u2018The things I deal with, I deal with them as a man. But what I make sure of is, I don\u2019t keep revisiting the problems, you know? The hardships, the pain. I\u2019ll talk about them every once in a while, but I don\u2019t like to keep dwelling on it because it can bring you down.\u2019<\/p>\n

Though he refuses to dwell on it, Eubank won\u2019t forget what has forged him into the man he has become. He now hopes that learning how he responded to tragedy might benefit others.<\/p>\n

\u2018I know it helps people to hear about the things that people they look up to have gone through and how they overcome them. \u201cIf he can go through it, I can go through it and I can be strong, too.\u201d I talk about them for other people; I don\u2019t talk about them for myself,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

\"chris<\/p>\n

Eubank is a deeply complex and interesting man. As he looks through those stoic, expressionless eyes, one wonders about the pain, the love, the sacrifice, that has enabled him to emerge from the shadows of his father to become his own fighter, his own man.<\/p>\n

Eubank Jr is now a household name in his own right, but he\u2019ll be the first to tell you it\u2019s taken time to win over the fans. And with 15 November on the horizon, there\u2019s still further to go on this journey.<\/p>\n

\u2018There are still people who hate me, think I\u2019m an arsehole or a flash c*nt or whatever you want to call me,\u2019 he says. \u2018But there are a lot of people who understand I\u2019m a genuine human being. I\u2019m a good man.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s good to see that shift. I think the last fight was the first time I haven\u2019t been booed into an arena in many years, maybe my whole career, so it\u2019s interesting to experience a different dynamic.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s very rare that people\u2019s minds change about someone, but that\u2019s how it\u2019s been with me.\u2019<\/p>\n

Chris wears: Jacket and shorts, both Stone Island; Shoes: Saucony X Silo; Watch: Audemars Piguet, Chris’s own
Additional photography: Getty Images
Grooming: Thembi Mkandla at Creatives Agency using Kiehl’s<\/p>\n

This interview features in the November 2025 issue of Men’s Health \u2013 out now. Subscribe to MH by hitting this link<\/a>.\"chris<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Eubank Jr\u2019s eyes betray nothing but everything all at once. They are expressionless but meaningful; cold but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,2910,108915,24271,783,108914,82],"class_list":["post-228086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-041a6b91-b500-42ef-8456-5217f8c65fbe","tag-displaytype-long-form-article","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-inside-the-mind-of-chris-eubank-jr","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}