By Samuel Lee
‘Persistence beats ability.’
‘I made a career of beating fighters I shouldn’t have been able to beat. On paper, Anthony Logan, Randy Smith, (Jean-Noel) Camara and (Hugo) Corti were far more experienced than me and had been in with fighters of far greater pedigree than I had been in with.
‘Even when I was established, Michael (Watson) and Sugar Boy Malinga and Graciano Rocchigiani had longer punching range and better body structure, and Nigel (Benn), Lindell Holmes and Dan Schommer had slightly faster shots and slightly harder shots. They should’ve been able to beat me.
‘Success is staying behind in the gymnasium that extra hour or two to work on movement. I would win because I was able to maneuver around them, move faster and move my feet better. Not so much talent and ability, but outworking everyone else.
‘The irony is that Steve Collins and Joe Calzaghe should never have been able to defeat me, due to either lack of talent or lack of experience. Yet they were able to outwork me and my knees had gone.’
Eubank went 44 fights before tasting defeat and fought 24 world title fights, beating every man he faced in the first 19 in a row. He went from Madison Square Garden as an amateur to Atlantic City as a pro and on to England’s NEC as a world champion; to Manchester United’s Old Trafford, to Berlin, Germany and to Sun City, South Africa in what was a glittering run. He was never stopped in 52 fights until his last appearance against Carl Thompson at cruiserweight (he started his career at junior-middleweight!), a ringside doctor declaring his eye was too swelled to carry on.
If anybody has valuable advise in the boxing world, it is probably Chris Eubank Sr!
