Chris Eubank
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Chris Eubank | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Chris Eubank August 8, 1966 |
| Nationality |  English[citation needed] |
| Other names | Simply the Best |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Super Middleweight |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 52 |
| Wins | 45 |
| Wins by KO | 23 |
| Losses | 5 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 0 |
Chris Eubank (born Christopher Livingstone Eubanks on August 8 1966) is a retired boxer who remains in the public eye in his native Britain. He is famous for his fierce rivalry with Nigel Benn.
Early life
Christopher Livingstone Eubanks (later opting to delete the 's' from his surname) was born on 8th August, 1966, in Dulwich, London and spent nearly two years in Jamaica (from two months old to two years old). On his return, he lived in Stoke Newington, Dalston, Hackney and then onto Peckham. He grew up in poverty.
Chris attended Bellingden Junior School, and then Thomas Carlton Secondary School from where he was suspended eighteen times in one year and then expelled. He then attended Peckham Manor School, from where he was suspended five times in four weeks and then also expelled. Chris was then put into care.
He was then placed in various institutions by the Social Services: The Hollies in Sidcup, Kent, for one month; Yastrid Hall in North Wales for one and a half years; Stanford House in Shepherds Bush for seven weeks for assessment; St. Vincent's in Dartford, Kent, for one month; Orchard Lodge, Crystal Palace, for seven weeks for assessment; Karib in Peckham, London, for one month; and then, finally, Davy's Street School (care facility) in Peckham for one month.
His mother had left for New York when he was eight years old. Chris 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 the boxer
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 back 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.
His drive to succeed in boxing came through his drive to become an accepted individual (his brothers, who were boxers, always treated him awfully when growing up).
He made his debut at the Atlantis Hotel against Timmy Brown, shortly after his 19th birthday. It was an eye-catching display, the young man vaulting the top rope and showing agility, skill and power. 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.
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 fierce rival Nigel Benn in a classic encounter that was later released on DVD. See Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank. Eubank would defend the title successfully against Dan Sherry, Gary Stretch and finally in an excellent match with Michael Watson. This concluded Eubank's career as a middleweight, with a 28-0 record.
In 1991 he was involved in what experts regard as the greatest fight in a British ring where he sent the ill-fated Michael Watson into a coma. Eubank was behind on all scorecards when he rose from the canvas at the end of the 11th round to unleash a devastating uppercut to Watsons jaw. The blow was exacerbated when a left hook quickened the stunned Watsons' fall into the ropes. The bout was somehow allowed to continue briefly into the 12th, but Watson collapsed afterwards and almost died. Eubank contemplated quitting the sport.
The Eubank v Watson rematch is considered one of the greatest of all time, and commentator Reg Guttteridge claimed he had; "never seen a more dramatic end to a world title fight".
The Watson rematch won Eubank a second title, the WBO world super-middleweight championship. His middleweight title relinquished, Eubank began defending his new crown at the higher weight of as 12st to which he was more suited.
After injuring Watson permanently, Eubank never again showed his desire to win by knockout, and became an '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-middleweight in the world.
Nigel Benn would move to the heavier weight to become WBC champion, and the pair would agree to meet in a WBC/WBO unification match. In 1993 the bitter rivals would engage in another contest named 'Judgement Day', and watched by billions, fought thrillingly to a draw.
Don King negotiated the contracts so that he would own both the winner and the loser of Eubank v Benn 2. Barry Hearn claimed that as a draw was not written into the contract, Eubank was free to sign a new deal with him. He did.
Eubank, despite losing his killer instinct after the Watson tragedy, still continued to box and claim scalps. He beat former IBF world super-middle and future WBC world light-heavyweight champion Graciano 'Rocky' Rocchigiani, in an infamous bout staged in Berlin. Eubank memorably infuriated the partisan crowd by strutting and posing between rounds. Former IBF world super-middleweight king Lindell Holmes was easily beaten, as was two-time WBC world super-middleweight champion 'Sugar Boy' Malinga, European champion Ray Close and American champion Ron Esset. And of course Eubank remained unbeaten in two wars each with Michael Watson and the all time great Nigel Benn.
After the Benn rematch and the Rocchigiani victory, Eubank signed an eight fight £10million deal with Sky Sports, and fought in Ireland, South Africa, Manchester, London and Millstreet. Fights in Paris, Rome and the Middle East to conclude the program were scuppered when Eubank lost his title via a controversial split decision in March 1995. In his 43rd fight, having accepted at short notice to fight Steve Collins, his unbeaten record and title were lost. Collins was a stand-in for Ray Close, who had failed an MRI scan. Eubank had Collins reeling but seemmed bereft of his old killer instinct. In the rematch, Eubank had Collins bleeding and disorientated but would not 'bludgeon' his opponent to a knockout, after the Watson tragedy. Chris, with not a mark on his face, lost on points. He retired at 45-2.
Chris Eubank returned to boxing a year later, organising a two fight program to box where he would have defended his title in the sky deal, beating Luis Barrera in Cairo, Egypt, and Camilo Alarcon in Dubai. He then signed a deal with Frank Warren to fight again on Sky.
Eubank would repeat his mistake in accepting a title fight at short notice again when Collins refused to face Joe Calzaghe. Chris had returned to training for a challenge for the WBC intercontinental light-heavyweight title, with a view to a world title shot at that weight. Yet with his old title vacated, he accepted the offer to try to regain his old title, facing a young and fit Joe Calzaghe. After an exhausting two week weight draining regimen the comebacking legend fought bravely, and to this day Calzaghe, himself a superstar, claims Eubank gave him the hardest fight of his life. This proved to be the finale of his middle and super-middleweight career, which he ended with an impressive 45-3 win/loss record.
His 1998 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 Chris had fought at for a decade. Eubank lost narrowly on points in the first slugfest, and in the second was ahead on the scorecards when the fight was stopped by the ringside doctor at the end of the tenth, though Eubank protested bitterly.
The losses late in his career saw the British public respond warmly to him, as he proved his bravery which had not been tested since the wars with Benn and Watson. Eubank retired as a long unbeaten fighter, and two weight world champion for six years.
Eubank the celebrity
Away from boxing, Eubank comes across as an eccentric. He speaks with a lisp and in upper-class tones, dresses as a stereotypically upper-class Englishman (in jodhpurs, bowler hat and riding boots, and famously sports a monocle), drives unusual vehicles (including a customised Harley Davidson and a huge American Peterbilt 379 truck cab which is the largest truck in Europe) and carries a cane. At one time he owned the only Hummer in the British Isles.
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. Also in 1993 he was awarded 'Best Capped Head' as well as 'Best Kept Hair'.
In 1991 Chris was the first celebrity to go on TV to talk about the 'Breast Cancer' charity, 'Breakthrough' when he launched the charity on GMTV.
In the early 1990s, Eubank was made a puppet on Spitting Image and saw it as a tribute and took it in good humour.
In 1994 he took over a prime site in the Brighton area, which he called 'Buckingham Place'. He knocked down the building keeping the grade II facade intact and building 69 flats for the homeless, using £1,250,000 of his own money. The building was leased to the charity sanctuary with the lowest rates in the country. The Prince of Wales architect Dominic Richards was so impressed that they are now working on doing a similar project in London.
He featured on the front cover of Esquire magazine for the April 1992 edition, and did a photoshoot for Esquire magazine for the May 1992 edition. According to Rosie Boycott, sales of Esquire magazine went up by 76% when Eubank was on the front cover.
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; this was a move apparently made to capitilise on his minor speech impediment for humorous effect. The video of a boxer with a lisp saying 'Suggs is at six with Cecilia' was shown on programmes such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks for a long time afterwards.
Eubank and his wife, Karron (married on 23rd December, 1990 in Brighton), have four children (Christopher, born on 18th September, 1989, Sebastian, born on 18th July, 1991, Emily, born on 19th April, 1994, and Joseph, born on 23rd October, 1996) and have over the years starred in various television programmes. In 2001, Eubank was the subject of a Louis Theroux documentary entitled "When Louis met Chris Eubank", in which Theroux and his camera crew accompany Eubank for a period of time. In 2003, they invited television cameras to follow their lives for nine months; the resulting show, At Home With The Eubanks, was broadcast on Five. In 2001, Eubank appeared in the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother on Channel Four, where he was the first celebrity to be 'evicted'.
Eubank also had his own radio show on Talk Radio called Eubanks People, where he invited the likes of Linford Christie, John Fashanu, Lennox Lewis and Naseem Hamed into the studio as guests.
He has featured in television advertisements (commercials) for Nescafe, McDonald's, and Jaffa Cakes.
Eubank has modelled for Vivienne Westwood and Versace.
In 1999, he launched the Sega Dreamcast.
In 1999, he featured in his truck on the music video for the song "Turn Around" by Phats & Small.
In 1999, Eubank was one of few of Londons A-list invited to the launch party of the Gumball 3000, as a friend of the founder Maximillion Cooper.
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. In the same year he was voted third in a Readers Digest poll of Britain’s Silliest Celebrities.
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.
His hobbies include speaking, teaching, philosophy, reading quotations, fashion, dancing, poetry, and fighting (mentally and physically) legally.
Eubank claimed in 2007 that his total income in the previous 17 years was £35,000,000 gross, including all sponsorships and endorsements.
In court
Eubank's colourful personality has led him into the courtroom on occasions. In 1989 Eubank performed a citizen's arrest of a jewellery thief. On September 12005, 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. He has more commonly had brushes with the police for unlicensed demonstrations within the SOCPA exclusion zone around parliament, making statements on government policy, particularly in respect of the Iraq occupation. (See Anti-War section below).
Bankruptcy
In November 2005, Eubank was declared bankrupt, owing £1.3 million in taxes. [1]
In early 1992 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.
Anti-war activism
On Tuesday, 14th October 2003 Chris Eubank was intercepted by police whilst driving around Parliament Square, Westminster, in his truck, which displayed the message "TONY BLAIR MILITARY OCCUPATION CAUSES TERRORISM". He completed a number of circuits before being arrested and led handcuffed into a police van. See Indymedia article for first-hand account
At approximately 15:40 GMT on February 22, 2007, Eubank was arrested outside Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall for a suspected breach of the peace after driving his truck through central London, emblazoned with a message condemning Tony Blair for sending Prince Harry to Iraq.[1]. The banner read "BLAIR - Don't send our young prince to your catastrophic illegal war, to make it look plausible!".
On May 23rd 2007 He was charged with making and unlawful anti-war protest after parking his seven-tonne truck outside Downing Street. The back of the cab had a message reading "MR BROWN You know that the policy in Iraq cannot succeed. Democracy cannot be exported with a gun. You can be the Great Leader and the Great Peacemaker" (In court on 01/06/07).
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.
See also
References
- The Times, page 22, 2nd September 2005.
- ^ "Eubank arrested in Whitehall demo". BBC News Online. BBC. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
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