More Eubank Quotes
Posted: 01 Mar 2008, 05:13
I don't know where these come from.
Does he have his own boxing show overseas or something??
(copied and pasted)
Does he have his own boxing show overseas or something??
(copied and pasted)
On Nigel Benn v Michael Watson
I was ringside for that fight, sat with the likes of my cousin Mica Paris, Paul Ince, Roy Jones, Lennox Lewis and some Arsenal footballers, and I didn't miss one split-second of the fight; my eyes and mind were fixated on the fight. They were 25 and fighting a WBA and WBC world title eliminator and I was in the top-2 22-year-olds in boxing; the fights were always going to happen.
What Michael did was he kept his hands open around his head - fingers on forehead - rather than holding hands up with fists clenched. It was an unorthodox defence, but 9 times in 10 the unorthodox beats the orthodox. This was correct, so I stole it from Michael and would cover up that way when I needed to. I guarantee you that any man who had gone in with Nigel Benn at that time, in his prime, with his hands up in an orthodox defence, would have got knocked out.
But what Finsbury Park showed me was how to beat Watson - not Benn, because Benn punched as relentlessly as he did against Anthony Logan and wouldn't ever fight like this again. I knew that I would have to fight Benn in a totally unorthodox fashion: half-guard - not full-guard, no range-finder, check and counter.
I also knew that unequivocal resolve would be required - look at the Klitschko fight the other night, I fired more right hands in the opening minute against Benn than Klitschko did the other night, despite Benn trying to overwhelm me with a maniacal pace and look for the knockout blow from the opening bell.
I fired many right hands, initiated the jab hard in his face, let off many flowing combinations, covered 85% of the canvas and landed many right uppercuts; all in the opening round. He was all over the shop and I didn't take a punch. I did more in three minutes than a lot of fighters do in thirty minutes, and to do it against the man who had the most opening-round wins in boxing is the epitomy of resolve and convinction as far as I am concerned.
Only his punching power troubled me. And even though I was close to death, once it had evolved into a cautious chess match there was only going to be one winner... even though I maybe didn't realise it at the time, due to being close to death.
On dropping Herol 'Bomber' Graham in the gym
Seeing as you've asked, yes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't bounce the shoulder blades of Herol Graham off the canvas, (and) apparently he'd never ever been down before. He out-boxed me, but by no stretch did he 'batter' me - his punches felt like being tickled by a feather, he couldn't batter a cod with his punches; that wasn't his business. The business of Herol Graham was being the artful dodger in there. He didn't punch correctly, but he was the grandmaster at trickstering and eluding your punches - even more so in the gymnasium, because he was, I think, (a) naturally nervous guy.
This was around the time that the 1989 World Snooker Championships were occuring.
On the Michael Watson fights
It was my convinction that I could out-box the punchers, knock-out the boxers, and do both to the fighters. That was my conviction. It was also my conviciton that I would use the fight with Michael Watson as a coronation; that I would out-class him for 5 rounds, then break him down for 3 rounds, and then look for the knock-out in round 9 - making me the main man in the middleweight division. The middleweight division was the best in the business at the time.
I had already beaten the man with the most awesome offense in Benn, so then I was looking to beat the man with the most staggeringly exceptional defence - who had only lost to perhaps the best body puncher in the business. I would show myself (as) thee best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, at the time, and it's still my conviction that everything would have gone according to plan if I had done my weight better, and there would have been no Watson 2.
In that fight itself, I did the first part; I was slotting in head punches that Benn and McCallum couldn't. The second and third parts eluded me because I ran out of strength. In the second fight, it's not my conviction that I beat the best pound-for-pound fighter in the planet that night, it's more of a fact when you consider that his offense that night was absolutely through the roof and his defence still exceptional, and extremely hard punches that did get in wouldn't even flinch his face, such was his strength and focus that night. That's why he battered me for 8 of 11 rounds.
On the best fighters
I don't believe there was a stand-out best pound-for-pound fighter between Hearns-Duran fight and James Toney-Barkley fight, and (between) Roy Jones-Ruiz fight and Mayweather now. Mayweather is just about the stand-out when you accumulate what he did to that fellow Gatti and scoring a knock-out in his last fight with Hatton, like Toney was when you accumulate what he did to Iran Barkley and scoring the knock-out against Michael Nunn - but Mayweather is less of a stand-out.
Hearns after what he did to Duran and Jones after the coronate of his time with his first fight of 1995 were the most stand-outs.
On his greatest wins
Other than Watson 2 and Benn 1, my best win came on German grounds against Graciano Rocchigiani. He was 35 and zero, 6-feet-2 and a southpaw, former and future world champion who's guard would cause Michael Nunn nightmares. Nunn only threw flashy head punches at Rocchigiani; I mixed in pin-point, hard body punches behind his elbows to keep him grounded and pick him apart with my flashy head punches.
On greatness
To become great or legendary, it goes in stages or accumulates. If you win the world championship in a dignified manner, you're good; relative to world level. If you win the world championship in a dignified manner after dignified defeats - as in accepting decisions in the past that went against you and persisting - you're great; that is greatness. If you avenge defeat and make world champion, or vice versa, you're one of the greats. What makes (a) great champion is finding the right punches at the right times, not dodging number-1 contenders, knowing how to survive and win, (and) fighting to the death in defeat.
To become a legend, you then have to beat a legend, and that is beat a legend literally: bang him up and bang him down. That or accumulate fights won that you weren't expected to win beforehand, which is legend.
But to become a legend of your own time, which is almost off the page, you have to actually win a fight that nobody expects you to win during the fight itself; that's the only way you could become a legend of your own time, when you really think about it. Nigel Benn achieved that with the Gerald McClellan fight. That made him a demigod. A living demigod is a dominant heavyweight champion of the world with charisma. That triumph made Nigel Benn a demigod, at that point.
On certain performances
For me, the physical fight itself is not to be considered as important as the mental preparation. Once you've prepared you cannot fail. As the saying goes: 'If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.' For certain reasons, I failed to prepare correctly mentally for Benn 2 and Collins 1, and the results were mauling affairs that could have gone either way or no way.
The fights inside of those, on the other hand, against Graciano Rocchigiani and Henry Wharton, were sterling displays on my half. That's because for 1) I prepared correctly mentally, and for 2) I had been injected with incorrectness. The standard of opposition didn't really change.
On the 2nd Nigel Benn fight
Benn was totally fused for that fight, I was the one fighter who could acquire him greatness or even legend status. He was wired. For the first time in 37 fights, I wasn't fused. I had thought of myself as far superior to Nigel Benn for 5 and a half years, and after beating him for the world title in 1990 he went from the very front of my mind to the very back of mind, and so I couldn't bring him back to the forefront, even as an obstacle. I even had to bring in my old trainer from New York to make me work.
My mother was watching that night, as usual, on American television, and praying constantly, because she knew how dangerous Nigel was from the last time he fought me! She just wanted both of us to come out of the fight safe. It's my opinion that my mothers praying caused the draw, that divine result, because Don King contractually had control of both the winner and loser for 3 fights, and I never wanted to be tied to Don King.
Maximo, my old trainer from New York, was telling me before the last round that I was winning the fight and that I should box and move in the last round, but then - due to my mother praying - Ronnie (Davies) blocked Maximo Pierret out and said into my ear that I had to go forward and get him out of there if possible.
As it happens, with the way the judges had it scored, had I listened to Maximo Pierret and not Ronnie and boxed and moved for the last round then I know I would have won the last round, and got a unanimous decision. All 3 judges scored the last round for Benn, because I was too desperate due to the perception I got from Ronnie.
The morning of the fight, by the way, my ex-wife Karen - then my wife, obviously - opened a poison pen letter that promised I would die in the ring that night. She obviously had to contact Special Branch and so on and I understand it was quite a big operation, that I knew nothing about until after the event. Barry (Hearn) was intimately involved, and after the event I then realised why there had been 20 large security guards surrounding me on the ring entrance, all with ear pieces and wire microphones and stuff!
Karen watched that fight on the television in the kitchen and was worried sick, waiting for me to fall over from sniper fire at any second! She even bought herself a packet of cigarettes that day.
A week later, I went to see Mike Tyson in prison and asked him if he enjoyed the show I put on, because I'd partly wanted to cheer Mike Tyson up and lift his spirits. He said: 'No offense, Chris, but I thought Benn won by 4 or 5 rounds!'
The global interest for that fight was staggering. According to the Satellite Times, 1 billion tuned in in 66 countries. A combined audience of over 30 million people saw the fight in the United Kingdom alone, directly following the ITN News at Ten. Match of the Day didn't get a million viewers. Put simply, it was one of the biggest fights of all time.
On the 1st Steve Collins fight
In short, Steve Collins made me dislike him immensely - I won't go into reasons. For the first time in 44 fights, I went out to hurt my opponent, and that was using too much of a subjective mind, which spells failure.
On why Prince Naseem Hamed hasn't come back
Naseem hasn't left boxing because he is sick of it, he just ran in to the fact that it is very hard being on the wrong end of the punches, because he never really was. So sick of it? It's not that you are sick of it, it's whether you have the integrity to see your course through, and your course isn't just what they say at the beginning or what they say during, it is what they say at the end. You have got to finish like you started - strong whether you are winning or losing.
On public perception/lasting respect
At the end of the day, it's all about respect - fighters fight for respect, I fought for respect. I showed my grit in Benn 1 and Watson 2, but not until it was accumulated with the grit I showed in the Calzaghe fight did the public start warming to me, and accumulate that with the grit I showed in the cruiserweight fight and nearly everyone warmed to me.
They just didn't perceive I'd taken my beatings in Benn 1 and Watson 2, due to the fact I won. I got out at correctly the right time in my view, to continue further would have left my dignity in doubt.
If you look at Tyson, it was precisely the right time for Mike to get out after the Lennox Lewis fight. He showed what a great fighter he was that night by allowing Lennox a clean kill. But quitting twice in his last two fights has tore that to pieces.
On Las Vegas
The Strip was Mike Tyson's territory - I was my own man, I wanted my own territory!
