Chris Eubank Jr has spoken about growing up with his boxer father on ITV’s Loose Women, revealing that he would “never” be as discouraging as his father was to him
Chris Eubank Jr has opened up about his childhood with his boxer dad – revealing one of the big mistakes he made as a parent. The 35-year-old is the son of boxing legend Chris Eubank and his wife Karron Eubank, who split in 2005.
Despite his father’s efforts, Chris Jr followed in his footsteps and became a boxer. Their relationship has been a rocky one in recent years – the pair were estranged before Chris Jr’s fight with Conor Benn in April this year, but reconciled before he entered the ring.
Now, Chris Jr spoken about his father’s wishes for him not to become a boxer on Loose Women. Appearing on the ITV show, he said: “We’ve come a long way since those days but as a father, he was worried.
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“He was worried that his son wouldn’t be able to do the things that he did to get to where he got to in that industry. It’s a very tough life to live – he didn’t want that for his son.
“He didn’t think I would be tough enough to go through the trials and tribulations that boxers have to go through.”
He added that while he went to private school and had a privileged upbringing, he proved his father wrong. “One thing I’ve come to realise is if you don’t want your kids to do something, the last thing you should do is tell them they can’t do it because they’ll want to do it anyway,” he said.
“No parent wants to see their child go through hardship and that’s what boxing is. It’s a hard life but it was my passion, I loved it. The fact that maybe my father didn’t believe in me spurred me on.”
He added: “Looking at all the things I’ve had to go through, I get what my father was saying and why he was saying it, but I wouldn’t ever tell my son no because it’s one of those things – if someone has a passion if someone wants to try something, they’ll do it anyway.”
Chris Jr also shared how his relationship with his father is now, revealing that they’re on good terms.
“I’m scheduled to fight again November 15th, it’s a rematch and my father wasn’t going to come to the first one, he called me the night before and our relationship has grown since then but he doesn’t want me to get back into the ring,” he said.
“He’s still worried even though I won the first fight. I was in hospital for a few days and he doesn’t want me to go through that again. For this fight, I think he’s going to be a lot more supportive.”
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