His father might have famously referred to boxing as a “mug’s game”, but that hasn’t stopped Chris Eubank Jr from following him into the business, and tomorrow evening, he is scheduled to make his first ever overseas appearance as a professional at the Arena Nord in Frederikshavn in north Jutland.
His fight is one of six taking place at the Nordic Fight Night event (tickets at www.arenanord.dk), which is organised by the promoters Team Sauerland and being headlined by the WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title clash between Denmark's Patrick Nielsen and Spain's Jose Yebes.
Chris Eubank Jr, undefeated in five pro fights (he lost only one of his ten amateur bouts), is a middleweight, just like his father. Danish audiences will be intrigued to see whether he shares his father’s talent – a middleweight and super-middleweight world champion for over five years, he never lost as a middleweight – and flamboyance.
Eubank was well known for antagonising opponents and followers of the sport by arriving in the ring to Tina Turner's ‘Simply the Best’, vaulting over the rings, hilariously posturing between rounds, and lisping through interviews in an affected upper-class accent. Outside the ring, he dressed in jodhpurs, bowler hat and riding boots, sporting a monocle and silver-tipped cane.
And while, Eubank Jr has no doubt cringed at times growing up as the son of the ‘Lord of the Manor of Brighton’ and appearing in the reality TV show ‘At home with the Eubanks’, it has been excellent character-building for a career in the ring.
Although he is in danger of becoming the first ever professional boxer to become a character in a musical. Papa is currently penning one about his life called ‘Eubox’, which he hopes one day will reach London’s West End or Broadway.
In the meantime, the 46-year-old might follow his son into the ring. “I'm a light-heavyweight now and when I look at 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins, I think: ‘If he can do it, why can't I?’” he told The Sun tabloid in June
“Wow. To be hit again, to be hit in the chest, to be able to withstand a shot to the face, that is a dream for me, it is my fantasy.”
And probably the fantasy of many boxing fans out there as well.
