DON’T LOSE YOUR MEAN STREAK, SON
Eubank Snr warning after horror
THE Eubanks will visit Nick Blackwell in hospital as soon as the family of the man Chris Jnr watched being carried out of Wembley Arena give their permission.
‘We became one on Saturday night,’ said Eubank, as he and his famous father came before the media in sombre mood to give their reaction to the bleed on the brain Blackwell sustained while losing his British middleweight title.
‘That is what happens when two boxers share a ring,’ he adds. ‘Especially in a fight as brutal as this one. It is a bonding of warriors. You will never be closer to anyone else in your life. It is a profound relationship.’
Eubank Snr, who i nfl i cted similarly grievous harm on Michael Watson 25 years ago and then did much to help his partial recovery, added: ‘Our prayers are with Nick now and we will be with him in person as soon as humanly possible.’
However, the father will do all in his power to prevent his son being so consumed by the situation that he allows it to inhibit his ascent to a world title.
Eubank Snr asked his son to minimise the head punches on Saturday night when he saw Blackwell in distress and asked officials why they were not stopping the fight sooner. But he will warn him against being sucked i nto the trauma which took away his own cutting edge in post-Watson fights.
He says: ‘It is true that I lost my finishing instinct after what befell Michael. I did not know I had until the 10th round of my first fight with Steve Collins, when I could have ended the fight. I am telling Junior that must not happen with him.
‘Not that it is likely. He is a cold, calculating, vicious man inside the ring. You must be that to win world titles, as I was. Junior will be more intense, more ferocious.
‘He’s a stallion, not a thoroughbred. He’s wild.
‘When I think back to what two great world champions told me after I sent Junior to America to learn this art and craft of ours in that melting pot, I know he will deal with this situation.
‘Mike McCallum said very simply, “Your boy is a bad boy”. Mike Tyson said, “Your boy is dangerous. Likes the girls, but dangerous”.
‘I have also brought him up to be correct, dignified, well-mannered, polite, strong of character, noble, patient ...all the virtues which make for a good man as well as a good fighter. But when it comes to train- ing and fighting he is dangerous.’ Eubank Jnr, 26, told his father not to worry.
‘I did not intend to hurt Nick badly but when it comes to a title fight you have to go into it meaning to win by any means necessary, within the laws of the sport,’ he said.
With abolitionists calling for boxing to be prohibited — including yesterday Headway, the brain injury charity — both father and son agree that i t would be a ‘terrible mistake’ to impose a ban.
Eubank Jnr said: ‘It would only drive the sport underground and into much greater danger without licensing, safety regulations.’
The prognosis for Blackwell is encouraging but there will be no title-winning celebrations in Camp Eubank before that happens. That was the solemn promise from both father and son as Blackwell lay in hospital waiting to be roused from an induced coma.
Eubank Jnr confirmed that he had followed to some extent his father’s request to reduce head punches to a minimum after it became clear the 25-year-old Blackwell was in trouble.
He said: ‘It is not an easy thing to hear because when you go into a fight like this, you are hell-bent on winning the title.
‘Also, Nick was very brave — a true warrior — and I have sent him a text saying so.
‘My father can see things from the corner which a boxer can’t see in the heat of the fight.
‘So I did ease off in the last rounds before it was stopped. If you look at the tape, you will see that I was putting on a show, punching lightly, playing with Nick a little. I was glad when the doctor stopped it. There was a lot of testosterone and banter flying about before this fight. But for me it is never anything personal.
‘Ours is a dangerous job and you can’t always tell if your opponent is maybe hurt.
‘ Some have a poker f ace no matter how much pain they are in. Some, like Nick, keep fighting back, coming forward throwing punches, sometimes talking, and even smiling when you hit them hard.’
Eubank Jnr added: ‘But we know the risks of boxing and we take those risks because of the rewards. Not only the money but also the ambition to achieve.
‘It has always been one of my dreams to win the British title. What has tragically happened to Nick has taken some of the edge off that for a while but I am quietly proud.’
Eubank Snr, when asked about calls for boxing to be abolished, replied: ‘One simple reason why it should not be. If you ban it, it will go underground and become even more dangerous.’
As the father is urging his son to do all it takes — out of himself and his opponents as it has to be — to realise his world title dreams, Eubank Jnr has to contemplate the prospect of his father returning to the ring at the age of 50 for a grudge-settling third fight with old rival Nigel Benn, now 52, which is under serious discussion.
He said: ‘I inherited this warrior DNA from my father and we have a great bond. But we are each our own man.
‘If that’s what he wants to do then I will support him, as he has always supported me, providing they both get in proper shape.’
As they both say: ‘ You play football, cricket and rugby but you don’t play boxing.’
“I didn’t want to hurt Nick but you go in to win”