27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Chris Eubank Sr reveals secret plan to be with his son last weekend
Chris Eubank Sr has revealed the secret plan behind his surprise appearance on Saturday before his son's fight against Conor Benn.
The elder Eubank, speaking on his YouTube channel 'Call Chris Eubank', said that he had spoken on the phone with his estranged son the night before the match after a period of had been reported widely in the runup to the match, which saw the sons of Eubank Sr and his arch-rival Nigel Benn meet in the ring, that the two Eubanks were not speaking. However, Eubank Sr now says that he was always going to be at the fight, underlined by his contacting his son the night before.
Eubank Sr said: 'At 20.10 on Friday night, I sent him a message. The message said, 'Call me when you're in private, please.' At maybe 22.10, I got a call back.'
He continued: 'Junior called me and said, 'I didn't want to call because I don't want to hear anything negative.' I said, 'Where are you?''
How the Eubanks made up before the Conor Benn fight
Eubank Sr said then that he went in disguise to his son's hotel, sneaking past the world's media in order so that the pair could talk.
He said: 'We went up to the room, and we sat and spoke. My words to him were: 'What do you want me to do, son? This is your show, your gig.''
According to his father, Eubank Jr replied that many elements of the ringwalk would have to be adjusted, with only the planned orchestra remaining.
There was a palpable roar from the crowd when Eubank Sr first appeared on screen on Saturday, exiting the car with his son at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As the car door swung open, he appeared with a grin on his face. The commentators said that it may have been the moment of the year in boxing.
Once in the ring, despite their once-intense rivalry, the senior Eubank and Benn hugged and smiled as their sons prepared to face each other.
Who designed Chris Eubank Sr's coat?
The former world champion also revealed that the distinctive dark-brown leather coat he wore on the night had been gifted to him twenty-five years before by Vivienne Westwood. She had given him the coat, he said, after he modelled for her in Milan at some point in the late 1990s.
He continued: 'That's a very special coat, not just because of who gave it to me, but of how and why it was given to me. She said to me, 'I can't give it to you because it's my husband's. But then she surprised me when I was leaving by giving it to me.'
The coat, he said, had royal ties. Eubank, it seems, considers himself to be a king.
'If you go back to the late 1800s,' he explained, 'you will find it was the Tsars or kings who wore this type of garment. Was it an accident that I happened to be wearing a king's cloak?'
