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I almost picked Eubank Jnr to beat him but I knew in my gut he couldn’t win
Degale has some praise for his old rival
ISENT some tweets out right after the fight aimed at Chris Eubank Jnr and his father that perhaps people thought were in bad taste. Even those close to me said not to, but I stand by everything I posted.
Immediately after the [Caleb] Truax fight, I had to put up with so much stuff from both of them so it got to the point where I just had to reply. They didn’t just kick me when was down, they stomped all over my head.
I had to read comments from the both of them following the worst night of my career and they think I’m going to stay quiet when he puts on a performance like that?
For everything that went wrong in my last fight, look at what I’ve accomplished compared to Chris Eubank Jnr. I’ve spanked Marco Antonio Periban, spanked Brandon Gonzalez, went to America and gave Andre Dirrell the worst beating of his career, beat Lucian Bute, and drew with Badou Jack when my shoulder was an absolute mess. How can Chris Eubank Jnr compare himself to me, or even get into anything with me. I haven’t even mentioned the Gold medal from the Olympics yet, as that’s the one thing that sets me apart from them all. I honestly don’t believe I get the credit I deserve.
The dad is worse than the son, I have no idea what his problem is with me at all, but he’s had it in for me before I’d even turned professional, saying stuff about me from day one, and how my career is going to work out. What is his problem with me? I know adversity as well as any fighter, and I’ve come back from some dark moments yet Eubank is under the impression that I don’t care about this sport.
After I won the European title a few years ago, I went out in London the night after with some close friends to celebrate. We had a table booked in the club, we’re having a good time and in walks Chris Eubank. I was in a good mood because I had just won the European belt, a big moment for me, and I went over to Chris to say hello and, of course, be polite. He pulled me aside and began to give me a lecture about being out and I was like, “Chris, I’ve just become European champion, I’m the happiest ever and I want to celebrate. That’s why I’m out. Now tell me why you’re out.”
No matter what I’ve achieved in my career, he’s never took the time to say anything encouraging about me.
His son learnt a very valuable lesson on Saturday and that is he’s nowhere near the level that me and George Groves operate on, and to even think that in the first place is crazy. You can’t bypass the amateurs, and expect to pick up years of experience fighting the world’s best amateurs, by sparring in American gyms. The highest level will always expose you. So many got it wrong by picking Eubank, and I almost got sucked in by it all as the fight got closer, but my gut instinct was that George would always be too good, and he proved that on the night.
For all my history with Groves, he gets my utmost respect for the way he’s turned his career around. Knocked out in front of a massive crowd at Wembley, then loses again to Jack, he would’ve been forgiven if he had just given up on his dreams there and then.
He’s shown some serious resilience, and he’s very much up there as one of the world’s leading fighters. Our careers have ran side by side for so long, going back to sparring each other as kids in the Dale Youth gym, and I still think there’s a couple more stories left in our rivalry yet.
HOW CAN EUBANK JNR COMPARE HIMSELF TO ME AND MY ACHIEVEMENTS