Chris Eubank Jr: ‘There’s still a lot to me that people don’t know. But I like that’

Chris Eubank Jr has long been accustomed to fame. He’s grown up in the shadow of his famous father, Eubank Sr, a legend in British boxing.

Eubank Jr himself appeared in documentaries when he was just a child, turned professional in a blaze of publicity when still essentially a novice boxer and has conducted his career in the public eye ever since.

But, he tells Sky Sports: “There’s still a lot to me that people don’t know, don’t see.”

“I kind of like that,” Eubank, who fights determined Pole Kamil Szeremeta on the undercard on Saturday’s bumper Sky Sports Box Office bill, explained. “I like having certain things in my life that are not for the public. Because so much of my life is in public. So it’s a balancing.

“How far can you really know anybody?” he continued. “I let you guys know what I want you to know and that’s the same with every person on the planet. It doesn’t matter how open and honest they are, there are always things that you don’t know about people that they want to keep to themselves or hidden.”

But he has grown more open, especially as he has taken the limelight without his famous father by his side more and more.

“At the beginning of my career I was closed off. I didn’t want to talk about me and my feelings, I just wanted to fight,” Eubank Jr said.

“That’s kind of why me and my old man worked for so long because he was happy to get in front of a camera and do all the spiel. He took that pressure off of me.

“Obviously as I got older, more comfortable with myself and who I am, and my environment, the industry and the media, I was able to then do it my own.”

After his brother Sebastian tragically died, Eubank Jr has taken on a paternal role for his nephew Raheem.

The week before travelling to Riyadh to fight Kamil Szeremeta, Eubank Jr finished his training camp in Dubai, spending valuable time with his nephew.

“To have a little guy there a couple of days in the gym, it lifts you up, it’s a beautiful thing,” Eubank said.

“It lifts your spirits. You’re in a camp, it’s the second-to-last week of camp, you’re going hard, you’re sore, getting your last spars in, you’re starting to cut the weight. It’s tough. To have that presence and that energy around, it’s amazing. It lifts you up, makes you happy, makes you smile. Which is very hard to do when you’re in those positions.

“Does it give you more of a sense of focus? Maybe. But I’m excited for him to grow and watch me fight, and bring him up.”

Even though Eubank Jr has just turned 35 he remains a “man on a mission”.

“The mission is to succeed. The mission is to progress. The mission is to create a legacy that will last a lifetime. The mission is to win. By any means necessary within the rules of boxing,” he said.

“You’re happy when you’re happy but I’m never going to reach a point when I’m like: ‘Oh right, I’m done.’ That only comes with your mind and your heart. Is my heart still in the sport? Do I still want to do this? Absolutely. This is my love. This is my passion. This is who I am. I am a fighter. And that isn’t going to go away anytime soon.”

Superfights planned

Eubank fights Szeremeta on a Sky Sports Box Office bill topped by Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol and the Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke rematch.

His new trainer Jonathan Banks was Gennadiy Golovkin’s coach when the great Kazakh fought Szeremeta previously. “He knows obviously how to beat him. He’s done it once before so that is a big part of why we decided on Jonathan Banks for this fight,” Eubank Jr said. “He rates him [Szeremeta].

“I’m resonating with the things he’s saying and teaching and on top of that he trained GGG in his fight with the exact same opponent.

“So he knows the gameplan.”

After this contest Eubank Jr does want to take on some of the biggest names in the sport, i.e. Terence Crawford and/or Canelo Alvarez within the next year or two.

He no longer shares a trainer with Crawford after bringing in Banks instead of Brian “Bomac” McIntyre. That could pave the way for a fight with Crawford, a two-weight undisputed champion who already has moved up from welter to super-welterweight.

“Absolutely. If and when that fight does happen ‘Bomac’ is always going to stand by his man in Terence Crawford and that’s understandable. So now I have my guy,” Eubank Jr said.

“I’m in the best position to be in because there’s so many different names that are potential fights and they’re all massive and they all can happen.”

Banks added of Eubank: “He’s a world class athlete and he trains like one and he acts like one. That’s all you can ask for, for me, in an athlete and in a fighter.”

“I would like to see him be on top as long as he’s able to be on top. Right now the focus is on Szeremeta and unfortunately I can’t see nothing past that. But once he completes this task any name could come up and it could happen,” he continued.

“Once he defeats his opponent Saturday the world will be at his feet. I believe he can have whatever he wants.”

Fabio Wardley’s huge rematch with Frazer Clarke is on the epic Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol bill on Saturday October 12 live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Wardley vs Clarke 2 and Beterbiev vs Bivol now!