CHRIS Eubank Jr is now mixing on the fringes of boxing’s world stage, but once upon a time, he mixed things up in a different arena. The Brighton boxer, who faces Kamil Szeremeta on October 12, revealed in a One On One Boxing video that he was an enforcer in a gang.
“It’s just what you have to deal with. You are a kid, you don’t know better. That’s one of the reasons why I ended up moving to Las Vegas to get away from that scene, to get away from that lifestyle,” said Eubank Jr.
While Chris has now managed to escape from his father’s shadow, as well as gang life, to forge a successful career in his own right, as quickly as things change, some remain the same. The location, venue and pay packets might be different for the 33-3 (24 KOs) pro, but the competitive spirit and desire for a scrap still stand.
“I loved the competition. I love the challenge. I have a guy in front of me and he’s trying to take me out and I’ve been trying to take him out. And who’s going to get to it first? Who’s going to land that first punch? That was always just sexy to me. And it just turned me on. I don’t know why.”
When it comes to the laws of the streets, being ready, alert and trained up for a brawl is the only method of preparation. Natural born fighters often grow up in extreme poverty, where violence is the only universal language and, with boxing, a route out of the hood. Grainy footage of Chris participating in some illegitimate warfare circulated years ago, showing now what his life has evolved from.
“I don’t know how it happened, but I was a street kid. I was a road man that was going home to a million pound mansion every night. It doesn’t make sense,” mused Eubank Jr.