“Just focus on getting the weight off, fat boy,” said Conor Benn to his long-time rival Chris Eubank Jr. yesterday. It was the final press conference before they get to fight each other in a highly anticipated grudge match on April 26, Saturday night, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London. Although Benn must have said that about Eubank Jr’s weight jokingly, but what followed from the 34-2 boxer was a release of pent up emotions.

“Weight? What’s weight? Everyone always talking about this weight thing. Yeah, the weight is painful,” Eubank Jr. began, referencing the constant questions he’s been receiving about making the weight limit of 160 lbs. And also the fact that there’s a 10-pound rehydration clause in place. However, to Next Gen, the discomfort of rehydration is nothing when compared to the pain life has thrown at him through the recent years.

Going down memory lane, the former IBF champ went on about the grief of losing his brother, Sebastian Eubank, almost four years ago. “I have a 31-year-old brother. He’s buried in the desert in Dubai. That’s pain, you know? I have his son Raheem, 3 years old. He asks ‘Why can’t I see my daddy? Why doesn’t he take me to school?’ That’s pain,” said Eubank Jr.

But that wasn’t all. He opened about not just his struggles of the past, but the heart-wrenching pain he has to go through everyday, as a son. “My own father, a man I idolised for my entire life, and he doesn’t speak to me. We haven’t spoken for years. And he thinks I am a disgrace. These things are what pain is to me… The weight cut, the rehydration clause, these are all things that are not an issue.”  

It’s not the first time that Eubank Jr. has opened up about this. Ever since his brother passed away, the entire Eubank family has often expressed their shared grief on social media. But who was the brother that died? And how did that happen? Many fans are unaware about Eubank Jr’s tragic loss.

Who was Sebastian Eubank? How did he die?

When the family was once complete, Chris Eubank Sr. had five children. Sebastian Eubank, his third eldest son and younger brother to Chris Eubank Jr. was also a professional boxer known from the name Alka Lion. New to boxing, the 2-0 boxer had also competed in MMA, and he was a personal trainer.

For his close ones, there was also a soft, loving side to him. In a series of social media posts, Eubank Junior had reminisced his brother’s hobbies like poetry, music, and cooking. Eubank Sr. used to see his son as a “deep thinker” who liked to challenge accepted wisdom. He’d grown up in Hove, England, but in the last couple of years grew a wide circle of friends in Dubai. “He was loved and respected by everyone who knew him,” said Eubank Sr. in a heartfelt tribute to his late son.

Sebastian Eubank passed away in July 2021, just days before his 30th birthday and a month after his son, Raheem, was born. He’d been in Dubai, swimming in the Cove Beach, after having a meal with a close friend, when he suffered a massive heart attack. His sudden death had shocked the entire boxing community, since there hadn’t been any previous mention of underlying heart conditions.

Later, his widow Salma Abdelati revealed that a full post-mortem report said that while undiagnosed, the issue was there long ago. The Dubai Police confirmed that even if he’d been out of the water, it would still be hard to save him. So, while the loss was inevitable for the Eubank family, it turns out that instead of bringing members together in such distressed times, it slowly put a rift between Eubank Sr. and his legacy-continuing son, Chris Eubank Jr.

Brother’s death worsened relationship with his father, claims Chris Eubank Jr.

The fact that Eubank Sr. was last seen in his son’s corner in 2019, it is not a hushed topic that the father-son relationship is strained to the extent where they don’t speak to each other. There have been several instances through the years, where Eubank Jr. expressed openly about the changing dynamics with his father. But a recent one was when Eubank Jr. spoke to Piers Morgan last month, as a part of his upcoming Ring Magazine showdown’s promotion.

Dwelling into the origin of the cracks between him and his father, Eubank Jr. had explained, “[Conor is] different. His father kind of let him do his own thing and jump in and sink or swim. My old man was always next to me, and it got to a stage where I decided that I needed to walk my own path. He was not happy with that decision. That’s the start of it.”

Putting it into perspective, Eubank Jr. further continued to shed light on what he thinks may be the bigger cause. “You have the situation with my brother passing away. That has affected him [Eubank Sr.] in a deep way—it affected all of us. Mental health is a real thing. That incident [Sebastian Eubank’s death], coupled with the fact that we were already not seeing eye to eye, destroyed a large part of the relationship. And, it still doesn’t seem to have recovered.”

Then again, when Eubank Jr. laces his gloves to do his duty of fighting a generational bout that runs decades back in time, he’d want to his father supporting him by the ringside. But turns out, even if he’s not, Eubank Jr. would still go on with showing his skills on fight-night. At least, that’s what he said. In his perspective, Eubank Sr. needs to get over the “demons he’s fighting” Either this fight would help him get over those demons, or make them grow. For now, it seems like the latter is the more likely outcome. And, Eubank Sr. has his own reasons too.

He’s expressed multiple times over the last couple of months, that he’s not happy with Eubank Jr’s decision to fight Conor Benn. He had called the fight a disgrace, tearfully breaking it to IFL TV a few days ago. “It’s a slap in Michel’s face,” he said, referencing his old opponent Micheal Watson who suffered a 40-day coma after Eubank Sr. fought him.

Continuing, the concerned father said, “My son is having to boil himself down to 160 lbs. This is daylight murder. My brother [Siman Eubank] died at the hands of the promoters—20 losses 27 fights, being brought in as fodder. I’m speaking from experience, it’s real for me. My brother died, frontal lobe dementia.”

Having seen those many incidents of injuries in the ring, it is natural for Eubank Sr. to worry about his son’s well being. To him, his son is only thinking about the money, and not weighing the detrimental consequences of a fight that has boxers from two weight classes apart. And that exactly, is what has increased the tension between Eubank Jr. and his father. What do you think about the matter? Is Chris Eubank Jr. taking a wrong step in fighting Conor Benn?