00:00:00
You're the first person I've really spoken to about this type of stuff. I was in hospital after the fight lying
00:00:05
there. I got my mask on thinking this is so bad. Get me the morphine. Get me the morphine. Got my family around me. Some
00:00:11
of them are crying. I can hear everything that's going on. And then I hear the doctor say from the other room. We have to operate on him now otherwise
00:00:18
he's going to die. [Applause] Chris Jun. Chris, you haven't really spoken since that 12th round with Connor. How do you rate your own performance? I was
00:00:30
technically sound for the first seven rounds, but once the cut came, I was experiencing all the things that had been restricting me leading up to the fight and I can hear my trainer. Got to
00:00:41
use the jab, Chris. Use your feet. I looked at him. I said, "I'm sorry. It's too late." Because I always knew there
00:00:47
would be fights like this where you don't have anything left or you want to give up or you're hurt, but you have to
00:00:52
fight through the demons, the issues, the restrictions. because I wasn't willing to go the rest of my life
00:00:58
knowing that I didn't give it my all. That lives with you forever. So, the technicality of the sport was out the
00:01:04
window. We are going to war. Was Connor faster than you were expecting? Yep. Was he stronger than you expecting? Yep. And
00:01:10
it was about who wants it more. My old man's there. I've got to show him. I'm capable of great things. You know, we
00:01:17
have been estranged for years. But what caused that relationship to strain? I sent him a letter and that broke him.
00:01:24
You know, I I get emotional thinking about this. What did that letter say? This has always blown my mind a little bit. 53% of you that listen to this show regularly haven't yet subscribed to the
00:01:37
show. So, could I ask you for a favor before we start? If you like the show and you like what we do here and you want to support us, the free simple way
00:01:44
that you can do just that is by hitting the subscribe button. And my commitment to you is if you do that, then I'll do
00:01:49
everything in my power, me and my team, to make sure that this show is better for you every single week. We'll listen to your feedback. We'll find the guests
00:01:55
that you want me to speak to, and we'll continue to do what we do. Thank you so much. Chris, you haven't really spoken since the fight, especially not in in long
00:02:09
form. So, I guess the best place to start is just by asking you how you're feeling. That was pretty [ __ ] crazy.
00:02:16
[ __ ] crazy is uh is is is pretty accurate. Yeah, it was [Music] um it was a fight that I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting to be involved
00:02:28
in. Um, I genuinely thought that, uh, I was going to go in there. I was going to have my way with this
00:02:40
kid, blow him out of the water, you know, watch him quit, watch him um, crumble under the pressure. That's really what I thought was going to
00:02:53
happen. And thank God that I was wrong. Because if that had happened, it would not be a fight that
00:03:04
is now going to be remembered for ever. This is what I'm being told. This is what I'm hearing. This is what I'm seeing. This is the best fight I ever saw. This is the best event I ever saw.
00:03:16
This was amazing. For a fight to reach that level of love and and respect, both fighters have to go through the fire.
00:03:29
Both fires have to do things that um may seem superhuman, may seem like impossible. They have to go through
00:03:41
that. They have to be true. And uh they cannot give up. And that's what we both showed on that night. Two men who were willing to die in that
00:03:56
ring. That's what boxing is really about. And it's so rare to see these days. You know, we just saw over the
00:04:05
weekend some of the best fighters on the planet right now. Devin Haney, Canelo, Ryan
00:04:14
Garcia. You know, they their fights were um underwhelming to say the least. boring. In those three fights, the total amount of punches
00:04:28
landed was less than just the fight in me with me and Connor. So, the fight with me and Connor, I think we landed maybe 1,500 punches. In their three fights in total, only 1,400 landed,
00:04:40
which is a pretty incredible statistic. And it just shows you how much that fight meant to both of
00:04:49
us. you know, it showed the pressure and the grit and the determination and the stakes. So, I'm I'm blessed to be a part of such a historic fight, a historic
00:05:01
event, and I'm I'm very um grateful that the fans loved it so much. You know, everything I've heard about it so far has been amazing. And I, you know, I went out into the streets um
00:05:15
for the first time yesterday in Brixton and to see the people's reactions for the first time really to really see it.
00:05:23
Um, you know, it really it really uh it really means a lot. You know, I had a woman a woman came up and she was crying. You know, she was she had tears in her eyes like, you know, it's amazing
00:05:34
what you did. You know, that fight superseded what boxing is, you know, because it was, you know, even even outside of what we did in that
00:05:46
ring, the father and son dynamic, that was real. And that's something that, you know, the entire world can relate to and has to deal with
00:05:57
their own problems with their families. So to see me and my father going through what we were going
00:06:03
through and then to come together to unite at a time when it meant the most. That's an amazing thing. And nobody thought it was going to happen. I didn't think it was going to happen. So
00:06:16
seeing that, you know, that that's not boxing, you know, that is um that's love. You know, going back to the top of that, you said that you were
00:06:27
expecting to walk in there and blow Connor away. So, does that mean that you in hindsight underestimated his ability or was there something not quite right
00:06:39
with you that night? Because I was watching. I was ringside and you didn't look normal,
00:06:46
especially in those opening rounds. You had the same dog in you that you've always had,
00:06:53
but you didn't look normal. You're very uh you're very observant. There are a lot of things going on in my life that no one knows about and no one
00:07:07
will ever know about. You know, as a fighter, you have to you have to do things that nobody else could imagine doing and no one else
00:07:20
is willing to do. I did that to be able to get into the ring that night. You also have the the navigation of weight
00:07:30
loss, rehydration restrictions. These are all things that I was having to deal with on top of all the outside stuff. what you saw was maybe yes there was
00:07:42
maybe certain aspects of me as an athlete that you know weren't 100%. But the truth of it is so many fighters go into fights with issues
00:07:59
whether it's injuries, whether it's illness, whether it's uh mental [Music] problems. We all have to fight through these things.
00:08:11
That's a part of the sport, which is why I'm not going to sit here and tell you about all the things that I was dealing with because it's my job. We are we are
00:08:22
fighters. You have to fight through the demons. You have to fight through the issues. You have to fight through the
00:08:28
restrictions. And that's what I did. I didn't give up. illness, injury, and mental problems. A are are just a few of the things that
00:08:43
fighters. Did you have any of these? Again, again, I I I I'm not going to go into what I was dealing with. Was it It's a personal issue you're dealing with. Um do you know why I'm asking this
00:08:56
question? I I'm asking this question because as a fight fan, as a fan of yours, I was watching you as you as the
00:09:03
fight began and I didn't think you were quite yourself. I've been to your fights. I've been to many other fights,
00:09:08
you know. Um, I've watched you in Manchester as well, ringside, and you didn't look the same. So, now I have
00:09:13
this big question mark in my head as to why you didn't look the same. And I'm like really determined to try and understand. I know that you weren't in
00:09:20
great physical health, but you say there was other things going on in your life. What category were those things
00:09:27
in? If you don't, you don't have to tell me what they are. You obviously don't have to say anything, but No, you know, it's it's something
00:09:35
that, you know, a lot of fighters do. you know, they they will come out of a fight and they will say the things that
00:09:42
um were wrong with the camps and were wrong with their health or wrong with, you know, their personal lives or, you know, I've never been that guy to
00:09:53
make excuses. I I'm not looking for sympathy. I'm not looking for a reason for people
00:10:00
to say, "Oh, well, you know, um well, you won, so it doesn't matter." But but even if I had lost Yeah. It's not in me to oh well this is why I you
00:10:12
know I had to go through this and that and people saw so much of what I had to deal with. Yeah. My father the weight
00:10:21
cut the rehydration clause getting fined a million for being 0.5 overweight. Using the gloves that weren't in the contract. Some guy trying to get into my
00:10:33
changing room to check my hands. uh and and and and and ruffling the feathers of
00:10:38
of my team. They threw everything at me. They did everything they could to try and get me off of track, to distract me, to take my mind off of the task at hand.
00:10:53
And I never let that happen. And I'm very um I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I
00:11:01
didn't fall into the traps that were set. Every time they set a trap, I saw the trap. Go around it. Go forward. Oh,
00:11:09
there's another trap. Round it. Forward. Another trap. Round it. Forward. That is a part of being a
00:11:17
warrior. It's not just getting in the ring and fighting. You have to be smart. You have to be cunning. You have to know
00:11:24
your enemy. You have to understand the things that people are trying to do to take you out of your comfort zone, out
00:11:30
of your, you know, out of your preparation. You have to avoid and you have to make sure that nothing gets into your head, nothing affects what you're going
00:11:42
to do on the night, you know. And the crazy thing was, not only was I dealing with all these bullets flying at me from my
00:11:53
enemies in Connor Ben, in Matram and Eddie Hearn, uh, in Nigel Ben. These are all enemies leading up to the fight. I had bullets and coming from my family,
00:12:08
my father. a couple of days before the biggest fight of my life. He's, you know, he's going into the media and saying I'm a disgrace. [Music]
00:12:21
Um, I'm already in, you know, under a lot of stress, under a lot of pressure, and then I've got to hear this. It's like, Jesus. I mean, what what, you know, how
00:12:34
how much worse is it going to get? It was tough. It was really tough. But on the subject of my
00:12:48
father, regardless of what he said about me and about the fight, he was there when it mattered the
00:12:56
most. And that means everything. I didn't know he was going to come. He called me. He texts me the the day before the fight, the night before the
00:13:09
fight. He said, "Um, call me when you see this." So, I saw the text and I thought, you know
00:13:22
what? You know, we are we're less than a day away from well, this is the night before the biggest fight of my life. The last thing I can be doing is being on the phone
00:13:34
listening to negativity because that's all he had come with for the last 6, eight weeks. The fight's not going to happen. This
00:13:45
fight shouldn't be happening. Weights are not right. He egged him. He's a disgrace. It's a circus. It's a sham. I
00:13:53
will never be in this my son's corner. This is all I'm hearing from him for two months.
00:14:00
Don't do this fight, Chris. Son, this is all I'm hearing. I I So, I'm sitting there. I'm reading this message and he hasn't, you know, I haven't spoken to him and I'm thinking,
00:14:12
I can't I can't deal with this right now. Call him. Call him for what? So, he can say not to take the fight, you know?
00:14:19
I got to rest. I got to I got to focus. A couple of hours go by, maybe 9 10:00 it gets to that and
00:14:27
I'm like, you know what? I've been through so much [ __ ] in the last two months. What more could possibly What
00:14:38
more could possibly be thrown at me? The end of the day is my old man. He's text
00:14:44
me. I'm going to hear him now. So, I call him. I was about to go to sleep and I thought, you know what? I'll call him. As soon as he picked the phone up, there
00:14:54
was a a tone in his voice that I hadn't heard for years. Um, it was a tone of happiness, lightness, joy. Hey, how you doing,
00:15:15
son? What's going on? How you feeling? How am I feeling? When when have you worried about how I've been feeling? You know, I'm good, Dad. Everything's cool,
00:15:30
you know. Just getting ready to go to sleep. Got a big day tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know,
00:15:38
son. I know you got a big day tomorrow. And [Music] um I want to be there for you.
00:15:52
So, I heard that and I'm like, is this is this a dream? Is this uh this is this is Chris Eubank Senior I'm speaking to. Who is
00:16:03
this? Yeah, it's me, son. Let's uh let's do this. Let's do this together. Where are you? Said I'm at my
00:16:14
hotel. He said, "All right, well, I'll come to your hotel. We'll speak and yeah, let's let's let's do it. Okay. Okay,
00:16:25
Dad. I ordered him an Uber. 20 minutes later, he was at my hotel. I got him a room. We went up to the room. We sat down. You know, he
00:16:40
said, "I was always going to come. I was always going to be there for you. And in my mind, I'm thinking, if I had just gone to sleep, what happens? What would you still be here?
00:16:53
Like, you know, we haven't had any communication. And I know and I knew how hard it was for him to send me that text
00:17:00
of, you know, call me when you see this because he doesn't do that. You know, it's been years since he tried to have
00:17:07
that contact with me. So, I think if I just ignored it, then we wouldn't be sitting here today talking about this amazing event that had unfolded because make no mistake, him being there made
00:17:19
it it made it different. It made it something that will now go down in history. You know, movies are made about this type of stuff. If I go in there alone, it's just
00:17:31
a fight. It would have been a great fight still, but to have that fantasy of a father and son coming together after going through
00:17:43
so much so much, you know, my brother passing away. um all the stuff in the media, all the friction to see to see that be able to be kind of put to one
00:17:55
side and to unite, to come together, to walk into that ring. It's uh it's an incredible thing, you know. I I get I get emotional
00:18:06
thinking about it because it's it was so unexpected. You know, I I had I had envisioned in my mind for the last two years me walking
00:18:18
to that ring alone. I just, you know, it never crossed my mind that my old man would be behind me.
00:18:30
Um, I envisioned walking to the ring alone, being booed, um, and getting into that ring and fighting with anger in my
00:18:44
heart. That's that's what I thought that fight was going to be. What it turned out to be
00:18:51
was I'm walking to the ring. My old man is behind me. He's with me. And you know, for the first time in my whole career, I'm walking through
00:19:08
a crowd and there's no booze. I'm used to walking up into these rings and I'm looking out and people are
00:19:19
going, "You're gonna get knocked out. and I feed off of that dark energy and I use it against my opponents. That's what I've been that's
00:19:34
that's my been my life for for my whole career really. In this fight, I'm walking past people and I'm seeing tears in their
00:19:46
eyes. I'm seeing grown men with tears in their eyes and smiles and you know, God rest slow. And it's
00:20:01
like, you know, I'm walking to the ring and and my my my face is always cold because I'm about to get in the ring and hurt somebody and get hurt. But in my mind, and my heart, I'm like, what's
00:20:13
happening? What is this? This is I've never I've never seen this before. I've never seen cheers, let alone people crying with
00:20:27
joy. This is, you know, this is this is going to be different. This fight is about to be something different. I don't
00:20:34
know. I don't know what it's going to be, but I'm excited. What did you discuss in that hotel room when he arrived in that Uber? He said to me in that hotel room, "What
00:20:48
do you think I want from you? I thought about it for a long time and I genuinely couldn't answer the
00:21:01
question. You know, we have been estranged for a long long time. Years. Yeah. Years. So, how can I answer that? What What do I want from you? Is
00:21:13
what he said. I know that this man is not a man that can be bought. He's got too much pride. He got too much morals. He's a man of God. Um that's all that's important to
00:21:27
him. You can't buy him. So me knowing that when he's saying, "What do you think I want from you?" I'm thinking, "Oh no, has that changed? Has he changed?
00:21:43
Is he about to, you know, ask me for some crazy amount of money? I hope I hope not because then that changes my view of who this man in front
00:21:56
of me is, you know? So, I didn't I didn't I didn't even think about that. It's in my head, but I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to say it in the fear that he would
00:22:09
be like, "Yeah, you got to give me a million. That would have killed me. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That would have been bad. Why? Because then I know that he's only
00:22:22
he's not there because he loves me and because he wants to see me win. He wants to support me. Uh he
00:22:31
wants to be my dad. If it's about money, then all of that is irrelevant. Yeah. So, I was too scared to even talk about
00:22:42
to even mention money because then that would mean that there's there's no coming
00:22:48
back. You know, if you're if you're in if you're if we're in a room together the night before the biggest fight of my
00:22:53
life and you're just saying you got to pay me, that means for the rest of our lives now, our our relationship will
00:23:00
never ever be the same. So, I was scared to say that and I was scared at the question. I had to
00:23:07
joke. I had to I had to make a joke out of it because I was so confused and worried about what was about to happen.
00:23:13
I said, "You want a hug? I give you a hug?" He said, "No, I want nothing. Absolutely nothing." And when he said
00:23:34
that, you know, my heart It was just an over an overwhelm an overwhelming feeling of joy. Okay, my dad is here
00:23:48
because he wants to be my dad. That's huge. That's everything. That's that's what I haven't had for years and years and years.
00:24:02
So, if there was ever a time that I was going to kind of get some of that feeling and love back, this was the time
00:24:09
I needed it. And he was there to do it. I'll never forget that. Him being there that night for
00:24:22
sure. You know, it gave me those few extra percentages to put into that performance. People say You were finished. But by the eighth round, you had no your legs were
00:24:36
gone. How did you throw 300 punches in the last two rounds? Well, I had to come outside of myself. It became
00:24:48
spiritual. It wasn't about the physical. I was dehydrated. I was experiencing all the things that had been restricting me
00:25:03
um leading up to the fight. So it it became not about the physical. It came about the spiritual. It became about just being
00:25:16
true. Just being the man I know I can be. I told you a story once about being on
00:25:25
that treadmill and you've got that cramp in your in your foot, but you said you was going to do the 10
00:25:36
miles. So, you've got to limp on that treadmill for as long as you have to to complete the task. No one's around. No one's watching, but you you keep your ass on
00:25:49
that treadmill and you get through it. You get through the pain. That mentality is what was able to get me through those last two, three
00:26:05
rounds. I never gave up in the gyms. When I was getting beaten up in sparring, I never quit. I would come
00:26:11
back the next day. When I got the cramps, I kept going because I always knew there would be fights like this where you don't have anything left or you want to give up or you're hurt,
00:26:22
you're dehydrated or you're injured or you're cut, you know, you can't can't see anything out of your of your eye. You
00:26:28
got a big cut across your eye and you're going to ask yourself that question getting up off the stool
00:26:36
in the in the ninth in the in the 10th round. Should I give up? Should I Should I take a knee? Should I Should I
00:26:48
run? No. We are going to war. We are going to leave everything we have in this ring because this fight is going to be remembered forever.
00:27:02
So what you choose to do in these last few rounds, that is what the people are going to remember you by for the rest of your life. Did you come
00:27:16
forward? Did you put it all on the line or did you retreat? I wasn't willing to go the rest
00:27:22
of my life knowing that I didn't give it my all. regardless of the cut, regardless of everything I was going
00:27:28
through, I knew I just I had to do what I had to do to win. And my old man's there. He's watching. And you know, he didn't
00:27:40
believe I'll be able to do what I'm doing. That's what he's been saying for years. I've got to show him. I've got to show the world. And I've got to show myself
00:27:55
that I'm capable of great things and I'm capable of going through things that 99.999% of human beings on this earth
00:28:07
were not willing to go through and that will live forever. And that's a beautiful feeling.
00:28:14
a week after the fight sitting here talking about it. There's no amount of money that can buy the feelings that I have now. And that is the genuine
00:28:25
truth. The the how proud I am of what we achieved in that in that fight. It's priceless. It's something that you know on your deathbed in 60 years time you're
00:28:39
thinking about it. Yeah, I did that. You can't get that from money. You can't get that from fame. You get that from years and years
00:28:51
and years of graft, hard work, and just being true, not cutting corners, not cheating, um not being a
00:29:05
bully. Chris, everybody has a different relationship with their family. You've always been a seemingly quite emotionless individual, very cold
00:29:15
exterior as you've described it yourself. So, it's really moving and interesting to
00:29:22
hear how much your dad meant to you. And as you were speaking, I was thinking about to all these interviews I've seen
00:29:27
of you over the years where you cite him as your biggest role model in life. I've kind of got two points. The
00:29:34
first, I guess, is a point which is just I had no idea he meant that much to you.
00:29:39
I had no idea. And secondly, the question is what caused that relationship to strain? My father is an extremely proud
00:29:54
and an extremely intense human being. He has his ways of thinking. He has his ways of living, teaching,
00:30:07
parenting, and it's his way or the highway. Nothing else works in his opinion. It got to a stage in my life where I decided
00:30:20
to walk my own path, separate myself from this massive character in my father. You know, I had grown up with this pressure and this
00:30:37
responsibility and it became too much. I was known for being the son of for so many years she makes
00:30:51
son. And I I I kind of whenever I would hear that, you know, well, at least they
00:30:56
know who I am. But it got to a stage where I was like, how do I get away from that? How do I [Music] become just
00:31:09
me? You know, how do I become Chris Eubank, not the son of a legend? And it dawned on me eventually. I The only way to do that is to be separate from it in
00:31:23
boxing. I'm not talking about as a father. Talking about in terms of my career, in terms of the decision- making, in terms of the training, in terms of the fighting, in terms of the
00:31:36
media, the press conferences, these were all things that he was right by my side for my entire career. I knew that to get
00:31:42
away from the shadow, I had to start doing it on my own. Did you write him a letter? Yeah. explaining exactly that. I told
00:31:54
him, "I'm going to write my own book one day." The book can't be, "Oh, well, my dad told me to do this, so I did it. My dad said don't
00:32:07
take that fight, so I didn't take that fight. He told me to train that way and and go here and and wear that." It's not
00:32:15
a book. It's not a life. I need to be able to write my own story into history. What did that letter say that you wrote to him? And why didn't you tell him to his face? I needed him
00:32:27
to understand and read it and reread it and reread it without interruption. You know, if I'm talking to him like I'm talking to you, as soon as something is said that is maybe a little
00:32:48
bit I don't like that or I don't agree with that, he will be ready to jump in and and and say his point. I had to I had to get the whole
00:32:59
thing out. Couldn't be in conversation. I said to him, I am the boss. And that broke
00:33:14
him. He couldn't handle that. He had been the boss my entire life. He had been in charge of who I fought. He had been in charge of my financials. He had been in charge of my
00:33:28
contracts. He was the boss. So to for a boss to hear that he's not the boss anymore, that strained the relationship. Oh, you don't want me to you don't want me to be a part of your career anymore?
00:33:40
All right. Well, then bye. That was his reaction. It shouldn't have been that way, but that's how he
00:33:46
dealt with the disappointment and the frustration of what I was doing, which was going my own way. Then you have
00:33:56
the tragedy of my brother Sebastian passing away. And this would have happened maybe a year or two after I sent that
00:34:09
letter. That affected him deeply. It affected all of us deeply. But yeah, it it affected him so much
00:34:29
that, you know, you add those two things together. He's already upset with how I've spoken to him and what I'm doing in
00:34:35
my career. my brother passes away and that caused him to do certain things in his life
00:34:43
which you know I don't like talking about it but I'm going to talk about it because it was actually documented. If it wasn't documented I wouldn't speak
00:34:54
about this and I've never spoken about it. He started smoking marijuana, I guess, to um deal with
00:35:07
the hardship of losing a son. Everybody deals with these things in their own ways. I can't fault him for that. But I I think that
00:35:20
that, you know, that changed him as as a man in terms of his mindset. And it caused it caused an even bigger gap between us
00:35:33
which you know we never recovered from up until last weekend. Since that night before the night the fight and every day since then
00:35:48
it's been all love between me and my old man which is incredible to think. You know, I was in hospital for two days after the fight. He didn't leave the
00:36:01
hospital. And when I say didn't leave the hospital, I mean like he's sleeping on, you know, one of these stretches outside my
00:36:14
room, just in the hallway. That means everything to me. regardless of the differences and the and the things that have been said and done. You know, a man who is going to
00:36:32
stay by his son like that, that's love. You know, it's been so long since I've had that type of feeling with him. And you only get one
00:36:46
father. So now we are going to build. We're going to build. We're going to build. And I think our relationship is
00:36:53
only going to get stronger and stronger and stronger. I said it before the fight. This fight is either going to
00:36:59
help us build or it's going to break us even more. I don't know. It was up to him really. And he chose for this fight to be the thing that the catalyst for us to be able to build. And I thank God for
00:37:12
that. Did his absence and hearing him call you a disgrace and all of the stuff he was doing in the media ahead of the fight in many respects to stop the fight it seemed at times? I I actually watched
00:37:23
an interview I think the day or the day before the fight where he was in tears kept saying to a boxing journalist that
00:37:31
the fight shouldn't go ahead and expressing you know his concerns about the fight etc. Did it impact your mental health?
00:37:39
It was upsetting. It was distracting. It was horrible knowing that, you know, this deeply personal situation we
00:37:53
have is now fully public. It's all over Tik Tok. It's all over Instagram. You know, the
00:38:00
headlines Chris Eubank senior calls his son a disgrace. You know, millions of people are watching these interviews. So, for sure, it affects your mental health, your mental well-being. It's
00:38:13
negative and it's deeply personal, and you don't want that in the public. It's a it's it's one thing dealing with family issues, you know, between your family, but when everyone else knows what's
00:38:25
going on, it's tough, you know, and and it and it came out of me in that last press conference, Connor Ben talking about, ah, well, yeah, you just worry about making weight. And at that time, I
00:38:38
was making weight. And I was in pain. And I said, "I'm I'm in pain right now, and I'm in going to be even more pain tonight, and I'm going to be even more pain tomorrow morning when I've got
00:38:50
to lose those last few pounds." I have the actual quote here. You said, "The weight is painful. I'll be in even more
00:38:57
pain tonight and tomorrow." The question I ask myself is, "What is pain? I have a 31-year-old brother that is buried in
00:39:04
the desert in Dubai. That's pain. I have his son, Raheem, who is three, asking why he can't see his dad. Why doesn't he
00:39:11
take me to school? That's pain. My own father, a man I've idolized my entire life, and we haven't spoken for years,
00:39:18
and he thinks I'm a disgrace. These things are pain to me. Yeah. And you know, I am not an emotional guy, especially not in
00:39:31
boxing, but in that moment, that's what I'm thinking. you know, yeah, this this weight cut and
00:39:38
this re rehydration clause [ __ ] hurts, but guess what? It isn't anything compared to those three things that I listed and
00:39:49
all and and and the other things that are going on in my personal life that I'm having to deal with and struggle
00:39:54
with um all while getting ready for this huge fight. So if I can if I can deal with those
00:40:06
things then what is cutting weight? What is dehydrating and starving myself to make a weight? It's nothing you know it's it's a it's a
00:40:19
moment of it's a moment of discomfort. You know, my brother passing away. Raheem not understanding that his father is not with us. Questioning, why doesn't he
00:40:33
take me to school? I see all these other kids. They're coming into school with the dads. Why does my dad take me to school? Why can't I see my daddy? You
00:40:40
say he's at the office. Where's the office? Let's go to the office and see my daddy. My own
00:40:46
father. You he's a disgrace. These these are these are moments. These are not moments of pain. This is this is pain that lives with you forever. So that they're
00:40:59
incomparable, you know. So when Conorman's talking about, I you know, you just worry about making weight.
00:41:04
Don't worry about the weight, mate. The weight's fine. I got I got a lot worse issues than the weight. The weight's
00:41:11
going to come off. That I think that was the first time that I kind of got caught up a little bit in what was
00:41:18
going on in my life. And um the people saw that and they I guess they they loved seeing that vulnerable side to me
00:41:32
uh because it's real and it's what it's what millions and billions of people are dealing with in their own
00:41:38
lives. So to see somebody who's a fighter, who's big and strong and tough having to go through the same things, it's uh you know, it's a it's a very it's a
00:41:49
humbling thing to see. And it's one of the reasons why, you know, when I'm walking to the ring,
00:41:54
there there are people crying. His dad came. His dad was there for him after all that. They're together. You know, I'm going to call my dad after this fight. That's what people
00:42:06
tell me after the fight. I called my dad straight away. Haven't spoke to him for months,
00:42:12
years. Called him. Were you thinking about your younger brother in the buildup to the fight? And as you walked out and during the fight, does that come into your
00:42:25
mind? There is a picture there was a picture of him on my shorts right on the side and he's
00:42:37
screaming and his name's on the bottom of my shorts. Sebastian. Um, that fire, you know, I'm I'm looking at that picture before I'm putting the shorts on like, yeah, I'm using that
00:42:55
energy. This is for you. This is for Raheem. This is for the family. This is for the
00:43:01
Eubanks. I can't look at that picture and lose. It's impossible. It's impossible. Raheem has had a big impact on you.
00:43:18
Massive. Never thought Never thought that I could experience the love and the warmth that I have when I'm around
00:43:30
him. I was never the type of guy like, I want, you know, I want I want a kid. I want I want kids. I want
00:43:36
that. I never got it. I just I guess I was just too busy with my own life, my own career, my own
00:43:43
issues. Raheem comes into my life. Uh and it just the love I have around him, it makes me want to have my own son. And Raheem is my son, but
00:44:00
biologically I want to have my own son now because I love who I am and how I feel when I'm around him. When I'm
00:44:06
teaching him things, when I'm taking him to places and watching him grow and watching him learn new words and new
00:44:12
expressions, it makes me really happy, you know. And before Raheem, I thought happiness was uh, you know, a big win at
00:44:20
a poker table or winning a fight or going on some amazing trip. and those do make me happy. But it's it's a whole different level when
00:44:30
you're with another human being who you love and you're getting to show him the world and teach him things and watch him grow. It's incredible. So,
00:44:42
um, yeah, I thank God for him every day. Is it out in the the public domain the circumstances around your brother's death? Uh, I'm I'm not 100% sure, but
00:44:57
um he dr he drowned. He drowned. He drowned in Dubai. Yeah, he um he had uh I don't know if it was a heart
00:45:10
attack. It was like a something happened with his heart. And of all places, he's having a
00:45:18
he's swimming in the sea. And he, you know, it it switched him off for a second and that second he's obviously in the water and he went under and um
00:45:32
you know how insane is that? The the guy you saw him? Yeah. Jack muscles. He he makes his own green juices every day. Uh alkaline. Alkaline. Yeah. That
00:45:44
was his nickname for anybody that's alkaline. Yes. You know, health fanatic. And in a split second he's gone. Uh it's just and it you know it it
00:45:59
just put things into perspective and it just makes you appreciate and respect life so much more because you understand
00:46:07
that it can be taken away at any any time, you know. And it doesn't have to be some crazy car crash or, you know, it can just be you're
00:46:18
swimming. You know, you're swimming and then you're not there anymore. Um, and it makes you live your life with so much more respect and responsibility
00:46:31
and appreciation. You know, before that, I'd have days or weeks where I would just, you know, I'd [ __ ] around, waste time, video
00:46:44
games, TV, you know, around people I shouldn't be hanging around with, things that were not productive in any way, shape, or form. And yes, you
00:46:58
still, you know, you still have to have those moments in your life where you can just kind of
00:47:03
do whatever. Nobody's, you know, nobody's going to be righteous every day of their lives. But what it what what experiencing something like this does is
00:47:15
it makes you aware of life and how precious it is. And it just makes you strive to be a better person so much more because you
00:47:27
know that you know we have a finite amount of time on this earth you know. So are you
00:47:33
going to make it count? Are you going to make it count or are you going to waste it? There are
00:47:38
people out there who would kill for the lives that we have. So how can you not be grateful? How can you not be respectful and responsible with your time?
00:47:51
You know, we are free. We're free. We did it. We made it. Billions and pe billions and billions of people on this planet will never know what it is to be free. And by
00:48:07
terms in terms of free, I mean, you know, you're not waking up and working, you know, 12-hour shifts just so that
00:48:13
you can eat to and live. You know, we have free time. We have leisure. We have uh you know disposable
00:48:28
income. People don't have these things. So you've got to be respectful. You got to be grateful. You've got to be responsible with what you're doing. With
00:48:38
all of this on your mind heading into that fight, I remember the last before the last fight was cancelled, you were
00:48:44
saying that you'd be at 60% for the fight and you go in there and beat him. What percentage were you at? And I'm
00:48:51
kind of coming back to this question again because you're really trying to get that out of me. Yeah. It's it's really I am trying to understand if what
00:48:58
I saw was true. Like when I when I saw you in those first couple of rounds, I'm stood there kind of confused and concerned at ringside cuz I'm like this
00:49:04
ain't how he used to look. This ain't what you look like in the other fights. In those early rounds, I was like, he doesn't look like he has the same
00:49:10
strength and speed. Well, I had a, you know, regardless of what happened outside
00:49:17
of my training camp and all the things I was going through, I had a rehydration restriction. Explain this for people who don't know. Explain what weight you're at, right? You're you were at before the
00:49:28
fight, how much weight you cut, and then what the restrictions say you have to do. So, you know, and I'm I'm not saying
00:49:35
this uh for sympathy or as an excuse. It was my own doing. I take full responsibility. And I say that
00:49:47
because they said, "We want to have a weight or rehydration restriction on you." You you can weigh in at the middle weight limit of 160 lbs, but the next but you can only put
00:50:01
on 10 lbs before the fight. Mhm. Usually there's no restriction on what you eat and drink. You just refuel and replenish your body to as much as you can so that you have full energy for the fight. What
00:50:13
weight do you walk around at? Just for context. So in context, I usually put on maybe 14 or 15 pounds after after a
00:50:20
weigh in. So I, you know, I, but I could only put on £10 for the fight. If I go over the£10, I've got to
00:50:32
pay million dollar fine. But if I saw you in the street in like two months time, what weight would you be at? Well,
00:50:38
now if I'm not in a camp and I'm not training, then I'll probably be, I don't know, 180 185 pounds. Okay.
00:50:47
So 185. So, you've got to lose roughly 25 lbs to get in shape for the fight to make weight, which is, you know, it's
00:50:55
doable. It gets harder as you get older, that's for sure. Your your metabolism slows down. It becomes harder to shed those last few pounds. And it was hard.
00:51:06
I I documented my weight cut for this fight. You know, I was I was in I was in sweatuits and I had to be wrapped in uh in these heated sheets and I lay there
00:51:20
for half an hour and I'm just sweating everything out and then I'm in, you know, I'm I'm doing all these things to
00:51:26
just drain my body of of all the of all the fluids and it's it's torture. You're
00:51:32
torturing yourself. You're literally torturing yourself doing this. But you've got to make the weight. If you
00:51:38
don't make the weight, they're coming for that cash, baby. You know, and that's what they've
00:51:44
done. Unfortunately, they got me on the on the middleweight limit. I was 05 Z5 pounds over the middle limit. I didn't mess up on the rehydration
00:51:57
clause. So, the next day, I didn't go over the 10 pounds. But that the fact that I had to restrict what I was eating and drinking after my weigh-in that that
00:52:08
takes percentages off of your performance naturally. You check in at 160 pounds the day before and the rehydration clause says is it 8:00 a.m. the next day you have to weigh again.
00:52:20
Yes. So I I it was between 8 and 12. Okay. Oh, so 8 and 12. Yeah. You have to weigh again. So I think at 12:00 I
00:52:27
weighed in at 169.4. Yeah. So, you can't gain more than 10 pounds um overnight, which means you can't be drinking too much or eating too much of what you want to eat. There
00:52:38
should have been no rehydration restriction in the first place. If you'd said no to it, would the fight have
00:52:43
still gone ahead? Yes. So, why didn't you say no to it? Why do you think they paid you more? Absolutely. How did you Did you get paid an eight
00:52:56
figure number for this fight? Yes. Okay. H I was so confident in my ability to beat Connor Ben that I thought, you know what? If
00:53:08
you guys want a rate restriction so badly, I'll let you have it. Did you get paid the same? But you got to show me the money. I'm not doing it for free. You named your price, didn't you? I
00:53:21
heard. Yes, I did. And Turkey said, "Yes." Yes, he did. At the first number you named, you [ __ ] up.
00:53:29
I should have got oh man I could have got cars or you know you should have doubled it and then come down and met
00:53:36
them halfway. But that's the thing you know when you're negotiating with promoters or
00:53:43
broadcasters, you know, you come in high expecting them to come in low and then you you know I know this and then that then that's usually what
00:53:55
happens. The Saudis are not they're not normal people. They don't have normal money. So a number that you think is [ __ ] great to them
00:54:09
is just yala, you know. Um but again, I said I'm not greedy. It, you know, they paid me, you know,
00:54:20
life-changing amounts of money. That's another reason why I did what I did in that ring. I have a duty to boxing, to the people, to the
00:54:34
fans. We can't be making the types of money we're making and and give half-ass performances. Mhm. That's disrespectful to people, to the sport, to the
00:54:46
fans. You know, we are blessed. We are privileged to be in these positions. earn earn your keep. Do you get paid on the performance of
00:54:59
the fight as well or do you just get paid a lump sum? How does how does it work? Because you you called Turkey Turkey, his excellency, you said a big
00:55:06
number, he says yes. Do you get incentivized on how the fight does in terms of pay-per-view? That is well that
00:55:13
that's all that all comes in the contract. So, you know, you have your purse. Yeah. And then you will agree
00:55:20
on if we get to 500,000 buys, then I get a percentage. Okay? And then if it hits
00:55:26
600, I get a percentage, you know. So you work it you work it like that. Or just say, "All right, well, we'll just pay you this lump sum and then we get all of the pay-per-view." Yeah. You know, it just depends on how you
00:55:38
negotiate. And so you you got part of the performance element as well. I'm not going to go into details on that specific part of the contract. In my head, I'm trying to figure out how much
00:55:49
that one fight made you because can you tell me how many multiples it was more than your previous fights? I'm just trying to that give me sort of
00:56:01
an idea of the scale of this in terms of a financial I mean it's eight you said eight figures, right? So how much more of a scale do you need? No, but I mean I mean what do you normally get paid is normally getting paid seven figures?
00:56:14
Couple couple million. Okay, fine. So, this is like five times more potentially minimum. Yeah, it was um you know, I don't have to box again. Let's put it
00:56:26
that way. But the beautiful thing is at 35 years old, I'm still hungry. I'm still hungry for success in the sport. I'm still hungry for
00:56:38
accolades. I'm still hungry to please the fans. You know, a lot of times it's happened throughout history. Fighters will get paid big for a fight and then they lose that hunger. They
00:56:51
lose that dedication, that respect for the industry. Oh, well, I've done it now. Now I'm, you know, let's go to the club. Let's pop the bottles. Let's
00:57:03
celebrate. Let's travel. Let's buy this car and this watch, this house. Oh, it's gym today. I was
00:57:12
tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow, it's okay. It's okay. That's the trap that so many
00:57:18
fighters fall into. And that's why I have so much respect for Floyd Mayweather. He has made a disgusting
00:57:26
amount of money. And his performances and his dedication never ever ever changed. That is, you know, it's incredible because guys, they make their first million and their head's gone. Oh,
00:57:39
I made it. All right, cool. No, it's not cool. You know, boxing is a lifestyle. It isn't a one training camp. It isn't one fight. It is a
00:57:55
lifetime of dedication and sacrifice. Which is why I never gave up going through all the things I was going through leading
00:58:06
up to this fight. because I know I've put the work in since I was 14 years old. So, it doesn't
00:58:14
matter what's going on in these two months. I've served my time. I've been through the trenches time and time and time and time again. And I've always found a way to
00:58:27
survive. So, I'm going to do it now. Not, oh well, there's weight clauses and my dad is giving me issues and this and
00:58:38
that and that, so I, you know, this is going to be tough. Maybe I shouldn't do this. No, you're going to get through it
00:58:44
just like you got through that treadmill run. Just like you got through that cut in that fight, just like you got through in that cramp in your leg in that
00:58:51
fight, you you build up a tolerance for pain and suffering. You did look like a man possessed at moments in the fight. To me, you looked like a man that had nothing left in the tank, but one that
00:59:05
was still possessed, as you've kind of said, by something else. Because even when it looked to me like there was no
00:59:11
energy left, your arms were still swinging and you were still marching forward. So, it was it was confusing.
00:59:16
It's always confusing to me cuz I when I feel like that, like I don't have that reserve tank, which was something else like I actually can't swing my arms. There was no reserve tank. There was
00:59:28
nothing left. What's what's going through your head in those moments when you you've got no energy, but Connor
00:59:35
Benner is in front of you and there's still minutes left in the round. Are you thinking? Is it is it like a conscious? Yeah. What
00:59:44
are you thinking? You know, I remember going back to the corner in the uh maybe the eighth round, seventh or eighth round, and I can hear my
00:59:57
trainer and my and my cornerman. Got to use the jab, Chris. You just stand your jab. You're good. Control the jab. Use your feet. I looked at him. I said, "It's too
01:00:11
late. It's too late. I'm sorry. What's going to happen is going to happen. You'll see. There was a look of
01:00:22
confusion on their faces. You know, when you have an instruction from a trainer and a team,
01:00:29
you're supposed to abide by it. So, when I'm telling them it's too late, what do you think it's too
01:00:36
late? I had already gone into war mode. Once you once you commit as a fighter, once you commit to
01:00:46
a certain path you're going to walk down, it's it's pretty much impossible to then switch back. I had a
01:00:58
cut from a headbutt. You know, the blood was going down into my I couldn't see. Fights can get stopped from cuts.
01:01:14
Soon as that cut happened, I knew that there was no more boxing. There was no more jabbing. There was no more technicality. There was no more being pretty with it.
01:01:26
Defense. Nope. It's go time now, baby. We're going to see how much this kid really wants it. Because I want it. I don't know how much he wants it. We're going
01:01:37
to find out. Let's find out. come forward, you attack, you walk through the punches. It doesn't look good. Doesn't look pretty. It's not
01:01:49
boxing. It is trench warfare. You know, when you're dehydrated as well after the
01:01:56
fight, my face is swollen up. And that's not from the punches. That's from severe dehydration. It's this it's this this weird thing where like when your body doesn't have
01:02:09
any moisture in it and you're dehydrated, your face puffs up. I think it's just the skin is weak and it just
01:02:16
puffs up. And that's what what I was suffering with most in hospital was just complete dehydration. It got to a point
01:02:27
where I was in the hospital and I was lying in the bed and they they had um drips. IV drips to get all the the liquid into your into your system.
01:02:41
And my bladder was full. Like I really needed to pee for about two hours. I'd get up, go to the toilet, I stand over the toilet. Come on, man. Come on. Would not
01:02:54
go. And I'm dying to go. That's how de dehydrated it was. That my body would not let any liquids, any moisture go. It was holding on to
01:03:05
everything. There were moments in that hospital where I'm feeling, you know, I saw myself, I caught myself in the mirror. I see my face is all puffed up. This massive cut
01:03:17
across my eye. Got my headache is crazy, you know, and I'm feeling sorry for myself. I'm like, this is [ __ ] up.
01:03:24
You know, I got my family around me there. You know, some of them are crying and I'm like, this is really this is so
01:03:31
bad. I'm lying there. I've got my mask on. Oxygen mask. I can hear everything that's going
01:03:40
on. Somebody in a ward. Somebody gets wheeled into the room next to me. And it's only, you know, it's there's no walls. It's like sheets just separating.
01:03:52
I'm looking up. I'm like, "Oh man, this is so bad. Get me the morphine. Get me the
01:03:58
morphine." They can't get the They can't get you the morphine until they sign off on some stuff. So, I'm waiting there.
01:04:03
This is so bad. And then I hear the doctor say, "We have to operate on him now. Otherwise, he's going to die." I heard that from the other
01:04:16
room, and I thought, "Oh my god, I'm I'm great. I'm blessed. I I should not be feeling sorry for myself at all because I, you know, I knew I was
01:04:32
in pain, but there's a guy next to me. He's about to die. What am I doing feeling bad for myself and complaining about a headache and and a cut eye? He's about to die.
01:04:46
And I do I don't know, you know, they they wheeled him off and I don't know what happened to him. I you know, I pray
01:04:51
that he's okay. But that put everything into perspective for me. You know, I'm okay. I'm blessed. I'm going to be okay. Quick one. I want to talk about something we all need to take seriously,
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vanter.com/stephven. That's van ta.com/stephven for $1,000 off. When you talk about the fight, you say what we did. You're referring to you and Connor did. Have you got a newfound respect and
01:06:09
appreciation for him? Because before the fight, that was certainly not the case.
01:06:15
I said it after the fight. I wasn't expecting him to be able to do what he did in terms of show the
01:06:22
heart and the determination and the will to win. He never gave up. I didn't know
01:06:28
he had that in him. I hadn't prepared for a 12 round fight like that. I thought that I would get to five or six rounds, he'd start
01:06:38
feeling the pace, and he'd look for a way out. He did not do that. So in that respect I have respect for
01:06:53
him. The fight finished. I did not shake his hand. I didn't congratulate him. I didn't speak to him. I didn't hug him, which is what most fighters, pretty
01:07:08
much all fighters do after they fight. And especially a fight like that, you would expect
01:07:14
that. I couldn't do it. I didn't have it in me because in my mind, you know, this kid is still a drugs cheat. He still tried to cheat in our
01:07:30
first fight. Failed two drugs tests. Never owned up to it. Denied it. Denied it. Denied it. No apologies. There's no admittance, no matting up. I can't forgive that. I can't
01:07:49
respect that. I can't shake that hand until there is some accountability. He's not going to give it. You know, I have to set an example
01:08:01
to the kids that are watching this fight, that are watching these scenes. You know, if you cheat, if you take performance-enhancing drugs, you don't get
01:08:13
respect from me. I can't give you that respect because there are kids who are saying, "Oh, well, hold on. He was doing
01:08:19
drugs a couple couple years ago. He got caught, but now it's okay." You know, you So, this really did bother you. I
01:08:26
wasn't sure if that was just part of an act to sort of promote the fight. you would you know the egg slap the
01:08:32
constantly baiting him about this um the voluntary anti the the doping ban that he had. So July I think it was July 2022 or September 2022 Connor Ben failed two
01:08:43
voluntary anti-doping tests for clomophene testosterone boosting substance and therefore the original fight was cancelled. Um the UK anti-doping
01:08:55
association formally suspended Connor for a doping violation. They reinstated Connor citing after citing egg
01:09:03
contamination and then reinstated Connor's suspension following an appeal. Ultimately, in November 2024, Connor was cleared to fight after the panel ruled that they had failed to prove
01:09:14
intentional use. I wasn't sure if you were actually really bothered by this or whether it was part of the promotion of
01:09:20
the fight. Bothered is an understatement. Really? Yeah. I don't hold grudges. I am I am a man that can forgive. Never forget, but I can
01:09:37
forgive. Um, but when it comes to something as serious as drug cheating in this sport, you saw what we had to go through. So if somebody's got something in their
01:09:48
system which is going to make them fight harder, take more punishment, react quicker, you know, that is a form of attempted murder. In my
01:10:01
opinion, you're going into a fight with extra weaponry. Is it possible that he didn't intentionally take something in your view? Have you
01:10:12
considered that? Do you know for me as just an onlooker I saw him the emotional impact it had on him. I saw him in tears. I saw him talking about suicidal ideiation after that came out. And there
01:10:25
was a part of me that did wonder for a second maybe something did happen because that is the reaction of someone
01:10:31
who is truly deeply devastated in a way that an innocent person would be. And imagine if he is innocent. Imagine if he didn't intentionally take something.
01:10:43
You can be suicidal and devastated after getting caught doing something you shouldn't have done. You can still have that
01:10:55
reaction. Let's say that he did unintentionally take these drugs. Somebody slipped something into his
01:11:08
drink. Somebody contaminated his eggs. Somebody injected something into him when he was at a doctor's appointment. I don't know. However you want to, however
01:11:21
you want to fantasize this beautiful story. Let's say that this impossible thing has happened. As a fighter, as an
01:11:35
athlete, you only have a few jobs that you have to do. You have to train hard to go to
01:11:43
sleep on time. You have to prepare. You have to, you know, you have to um make sure that your diet, your fluid
01:11:56
intake is on point so that you have the energy to go into these uh to these fights into these sporting events and be able to compete at the highest ability you can. Aside from that, there's not
01:12:09
much else we have to do as an athlete. It's your job to know exactly what you are putting into your body. Whether it's food,
01:12:20
whether it's fluid, whether it's drugs, you have to know. That's your job. So, if you're irresponsible enough to let
01:12:31
somebody slip something by to where you fail not one but two drugs tests, if you're irresponsible enough for that to happen, then you're still a cheat. Could
01:12:43
you shake his hand now? I I told you I didn't shake his hand after the fight. One, because he's never owned up to it.
01:12:51
And two, you know, it's very likely that we are going to be fighting again. You slapped him with an egg in a press conference beforehand and you were fined £100,000 for that slap with the
01:13:04
egg. Do you regret the egg slap? Worth every penny, my friend. Really? Yeah. It was a symbol. It was It wasn't an act of
01:13:17
violence. It was an act of justice. It was an act to make sure that for the rest of his life he will never be [Music] able to forget what he
01:13:30
did. People will always know he remember that time maybe human hit him with an egg that will go that will be with him for the rest of his life and that's what he deserves for failing those drugs tests. So many times
01:13:43
fighters, they fail drug tests, they serve a little ban, they pay a fine, they're back in the ring, and people
01:13:49
kind of just forget, kind of just get swept under. Oh, don't talk about that. Come on. You
01:13:55
know, he's doing so well now. Come on. He served his time. No, no, no, no. This kid is not He's not getting that. I'm going to put this egg across his chin.
01:14:06
There's going to be pictures that are going to circulate around the world. That memory will stay with him
01:14:13
for the rest of his life. He will he will always be known for that. Why was it an egg? Why did he hit him with an
01:14:19
egg? Oh, cuz he was treating with drugs and it was it was a contaminated egg or something like that. I want that story
01:14:24
to live with him. There's a rematch clause. I'm assuming the rematch clause I don't know how these things work, but
01:14:30
I'm assuming you get paid the same again. You get paid more. You get paid more to do the rematch. Absolutely. Really? Yeah. You know this that's this is business.
01:14:41
You you know the fight will be bigger. Okay. The fight will sell more pay-per-views. It will sell more
01:14:46
tickets. It will there will be a you can't you know you can't get paid the same. If you lose, you get paid less. That's how boxing works. So if you'd
01:14:59
lost this fight, you would have got paid less. Absolutely. Significantly less. I mean, it would still be incredible
01:15:05
numbers, but yes, you'd lose millions. Millions if you lose the fight. For sure. Interesting. But that's, you know,
01:15:11
that's not just because we're working with the Saudis. That's boxing in general. Yeah. You're, they say in boxing, you're only as good as your last
01:15:18
fight. If you win, you can demand more the next time. If you lose, well, you lost, so we're going to give you this. So, this rematch clause, if you decided to walk away now or Connor decided to
01:15:29
walk away now, is there any penalty? It's a good question. I don't know if there's a penalty. May Well, yeah, I'm
01:15:36
maybe I could be sued. Okay. Yeah, there's there's probably, you know, all that stuff I have, you know, lawyers that deal out all the all the small print, but you know, in all
01:15:48
honesty, you know, I was like, you guys want you guys want to sign a rematch clause for this? No one's going to want to see a rematch
01:16:01
after I do this what I'm going to do to you. That's what was in my head. I was like, they're contracting me. They have
01:16:08
to deliver a rematch. They have to pay me a this this amount of money minimum. This is amazing because I'm going to go out there. I'm going to blast this guy out and then, you know,
01:16:19
and people are probably aren't going to want to see a rematch. So, this is amazing that I'm going to actually get it contracted in. Now, did you even
01:16:25
think that in the day before the fight when you were struggling? Did you even think you were
01:16:32
going to blow him out even when you were struggling? That's how much I didn't respect the um not even the ability cuz I knew he had ability, but the mindset.
01:16:45
Were there people around you encouraging you or floating the idea of you pulling out of the fight because of your health
01:16:53
condition? I never said I had a health condition. You are, you know, kind of listening to
01:17:00
what I've said and that's what you've taken away from it. I'm not confirming or denying that. Just to make that clear.
01:17:06
[Music] Um, I'm not going to answer that question either. Okay. So, does that mean that there is going to be the
01:17:19
rematch this year? I mean contractually that is what is on paper. Um Turkeykey's already booked the arena. I hear he's already booked it in September. I doubt that it's already
01:17:33
been booked but you know they have their plans they have their direction and you
01:17:40
know with with the Saudis when they want something they get it you know nobody stops them from doing what they want to do. So, um it's it's very likely that
01:17:52
that fight will happen again at some point this year. And do you want that fight next? I want what the fans
01:18:00
want. You know, if the fans want to see it next, who am I to to say no? You know,
01:18:08
it's um it's a fight that's inspired people. I got I got friends calling me up messaging me, "Oh, my son I took my son down to the boxing gym for the first time today." Like, it's getting kids
01:18:20
into gyms, you know? I never wanted to box before. He plays football every day. Now he's in the boxing gym and sending me
01:18:26
pictures of hitting the bags and stuff. It's amazing. Crazy. How much better do you think you could be as a percentage?
01:18:38
Um, if every, you know, dad's back in your corner now, you you're going to be a bit more
01:18:46
versed in, I guess, preparation with the weight cut or whatever. You said there's pointed out a few things you said you would have done differently. Well, I I
01:18:52
fought him. I've lived with him for 12 rounds. I know what he is, what he's capable of.
01:19:03
So, in that aspect, the next fight for me should be a hell of a lot easier because, you know, I'm one of them fighters. You know, all I need is all I need is to experience it one
01:19:17
time and then I know what to do with you. That's how I've always been, especially in like sparring. Mhm. I remember the first time the first time I ever went into a gym. I can't remember
01:19:29
if I told you the story, but I I got my ass battered for three rounds. The first time I ever went to a boxing gym, but I
01:19:35
knew what he was. I knew how strong he was. I knew how fast he was. I knew the type of punches he threw. So, after two months of training
01:19:46
and preparation, I got back into the ring with that same guy and I battered him. That's all I thought about, you
01:19:54
know. So, I believe the same thing will happen with Connor. I won the first fight and I
01:20:01
got to experience what he is. There's so many things I know now about him that I can practice, perfect,
01:20:09
tweak, tailor my performance to to take advantage of his weaknesses. And he will
01:20:15
probably do the same with me. Yeah. But my experience is so more superior to what
01:20:23
he is in terms of what I've done and what I've the guys I've faced. I know how to capitalize on being with a ring
01:20:29
in a ring with somebody before that he doesn't. I've been in rematches before. I rematched Liam Smith who beat me in
01:20:37
the first fight. Uh and the second fight blew him out of the water. So I know what it is to do that. He doesn't. Was Connor faster than you were expecting? Yep. Was he stronger than you
01:20:50
expecting? Yep. Stronger, faster, tougher, and more most importantly is more mentally prepared and more mentally
01:21:08
willing to put it all on the line. That was the most shocking thing to me. I didn't think he had that in him to stay in there and
01:21:20
show that dog. We both had to be dogs at the end of that fight and throughout the entire
01:21:27
fight. I didn't know he had any dog in him. I thought he was the type of guy if it's not going my way, I'm going to look
01:21:32
for a way out. He's not that guy. So, how does that feel know knowing now that you're getting into the ring again potentially in September this year with
01:21:44
someone who is absolutely unwilling to quit? That is an absolute dog. That is also learned from
01:21:51
you. Is there not an element of you that goes, "Fucking hell, you know, I'd rather avoid that. I've got eight
01:21:56
figures in the bank and you know, I could I could buy a boat. I could chill or I could go back in that ring with
01:22:02
that that dog and might bust my eye and be back in hospital. I'm going to have to go through the cut weight cut again
01:22:08
and the dehydration again. And it's um exciting. You know, I'm sick in that way in that I love being in these positions
01:22:21
[Music] where what's going to happen? Am I going to be able to do it? I live for that. I
01:22:29
live for those moments. These are the moments that when I'm 60, 70, 80 years old, I'm going to look at and be like,
01:22:35
"Wow, I did that." You're sick in the head. Well, you have to be sick to to be in a fight like that, come out of the ring a week later and think, you know what? I can't wait
01:22:47
to do that again. That is kind of sick. You know, I'm dehydrated. I'm cut. I'm tired. I'm in pain. There's something
01:22:55
sick about it. But you have to be you have to be wired differently to be a fighter of any type of grade. You can't be a normal human being. Most most
01:23:06
human beings when they're in painful situations, what can I do to avoid that? I want to get into it
01:23:13
more. See how far I can go. Can he break me? No. But let's find out if he can. So talk to me about the walk out. The fight was legendary. The
01:23:27
buildup was legendary, but the walk out was also legendary. I've seen I walked I
01:23:32
watched the walk out 50 times. Yeah, I watched it like 15 times. It was iconic. Wow. It made me fall in love with uh the
01:23:39
Dre song again. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's that's that's my anthem. That's the song I've been walking out to for my
01:23:45
entire career. So to have an orchestra playing that behind me was special. Um you had Simply the Best as well. Yeah.
01:23:52
Simply the best, which I'm guessing was a last minute addition. Absolutely. We we're supposed to have an artist. We we
01:23:58
were we had um we were in talks with uh Central Sea. He was going to bring me out really and then, you know, obviously last minute, my old man
01:24:11
uh came into the picture and you know, we had to cut out all these other things we were going to do. Um your dad
01:24:18
requested a song, didn't he? So that's the So he said so he said what do you want from
01:24:24
me or what what do you think I want? He said I said I don't know dad. You want a
01:24:29
hug? He said I don't want anything. And then later on he said you know what there's one thing. There's a song that I
01:24:36
want you to play at some point in the walk out. And I'm like here we go. We already
01:24:45
got Simply the Best. We've got a whole orchestra for my song, Dr. Dre. How How are we going to squeeze in some random song I've never heard of? But my old man's my old man. And I
01:24:58
was actually kind of annoyed. Um because I'm like, you know, the truth is you haven't been around. You haven't been a part of the fight. You haven't been a part of the
01:25:10
the whole setup. We've had all these, you know, all these things, you know, preparing for the show and now all of a
01:25:17
sudden, you know, you're coming in your and and you're saying you want this song. I'm like, you know
01:25:23
what, you being there is what's important and if you're saying that's what you want, we will find a way to put
01:25:30
it in. And I listened to the song and I was like, I didn't get it. I thought this is just just one of my old man's kooky requests that you know even on the
01:25:45
night I'm up on the stage we walk up onto the stage and look out into the crowd the simply the best song stops and
01:25:52
in my head I'm thinking oh man that would have been so much better to just keep that going you know and then
01:25:59
this kind of ethereal tune pops out over the over the stadium and I'm looking out into the crowd and I'm I'm starting to see people well
01:26:19
up like gez this guy how does this kind of he always he always you know even when you think he's crazy or wrong he's right and this song was like it just it
01:26:34
worked perfectly with the whole scene. Me and my old man finally standing together and
01:26:39
there's this like peaceful song that comes in and we're together and it's like a beautiful moment that I never
01:26:45
thought would happen that wouldn't have happened if it was just simply the best cuz it's a different it's a different
01:26:50
vibe. You know, it took the energy out. It took it down and it went boom and and then for everyone to just focus on what
01:26:56
was actually happening. So, we're there and we're listening to this song and it's like it's an amazing it's an
01:27:02
amazing moment and then it dropped into the orchestra. Yeah. And it it was just perfect. I was like, "Wow." And then it dropped into the beat as you started walking. Yeah. It was iconic, you know. And it's like you can't script this type
01:27:15
of stuff, you know? It's like people say I keep hearing people say, "Oh, it was like WWE like you know, but in real
01:27:23
life." And I've never watched WWE so I don't really know what that means. But someone was telling me, you know, oh
01:27:28
well, you know, obviously everything's scripted, but they act like it isn't. Yeah. So like the commentators and you know this, but it's all so it was like that, but it was real and it was
01:27:39
happening in front of everyone for the first time. Everyone's like, and these were real reactions. It wasn't it wasn't fake, you know. It's crazy. The way your
01:27:46
dad like stepped out the car and put one leg out and then you hear the commentators like scream. It was Yeah, it was even that moment. So, it's like,
01:27:53
you know, if I was on that side of the car, cuz we're we're in the the Rolls-Royce, but what if I was on that
01:28:00
side? So, then we park up and then it's me that gets out. Obviously, it's it's still a a very cool moment, but it's it's different when it's that was a good moment for him to
01:28:12
to to be shown, you know, and then I come in from the side and we hug and we walk in. And you couldn't hear that the
01:28:18
arena had erupted? No, I didn't know. I I didn't know until uh until people were talking about it.
01:28:24
Billy Joe, he tried to get into your dressing room to do your hand wraps. Caused a scene outside with our friend
01:28:31
Nappa. Um who I've known a long, long time. Um Billy Joe, you had a fight with him in the past. Um contentious fight. He got the
01:28:42
decision in that fight, but it was a contentious fight. How do you feel about Billy Joe?
01:28:52
There's very few people in the sport in the planet really that I genuinely dislike. He is one of those people. Who do you dislike more, Connor Ben or Billy Joe? Well, Billy Joe is a drug cheat,
01:29:08
too. So, Billy Joe. Yeah, because not only is he a drug gee, but he is actually a real scummy human being, you know, and I
01:29:23
don't talk about anybody like this. So, if I'm saying it about him, there's a reason. He is a bad bad
01:29:31
person. A terrible advocate for the sport. Just a just a real low-life human being. Um, and I don't say that about any of the guys I fought. I'm not even saying
01:29:45
that about Connor. Even though he cheated, he's still somebody that um, you know, I can I can see some of the things he does and I can see why
01:29:59
people will like him. There's nothing to like about Billy Jos. And for that reason, I would love to get my hands on him because he does have a win over me
01:30:10
that I don't believe he deserves that many people say that he doesn't deserve. A lot of people say I won the fight and
01:30:17
it's kind of just something that's been hanging over me for so long and I just know that I can beat him and I just know
01:30:24
how much of an enjoyment it would be for me to set that record straight. So, that's another fight that's uh a possibility in the future. So, if you could draw the your future, if you could
01:30:39
plot your next three fights and you you had to decide right now, what would those next three fights
01:30:46
be? In a perfect world, I feel like the demand for this Connor Ben fight is at an all-time high right now.
01:31:02
So, I feel like that would be the fight to make next. Then you have Canelo. That is a fight that I've been wanting
01:31:13
for, you know, for years. And uh I would love to share the ring with that man. And then we could throw Saers in at
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free. I have to play you this video which has gone viral. You know this video. I ask you, I mean, I often tell Christopher that um boxing is a business
01:33:35
that um you never see middle class or upper class youngsters become champion because you need hunger. You need to be hungry. Um and the fact that you've kind of been brought up within these four
01:33:47
walls here and you've been protected, I don't think you're going to be hard enough. I just want to try it. I just
01:33:52
want to see what it's about. I mean, if he can, if my leg can do, why can't I do it?
01:33:59
That's the argument I've so many people come to understand. You take a beating. Is this what it's about? Nothing. And I hope I hope you're not stubborn
01:34:10
and kind of uh That's what you are. You're stubborn and bullheaded and that's why you made it. Yeah, but I
01:34:15
don't want him to. So, you're saying he now you don't want him to be stubborn and bullheaded? Listen, you know, for
01:34:21
the guys who don't make for the guys who don't make it in boxing, you know, it's tragic. It's a tragic business to be in.
01:34:28
I know you're convinced he's not going to make it. Just let him go until he wears himself out of it and he's not
01:34:34
bothered anymore. Yeah. And by then all those good-looking features would have gone. You know what they say? Let me
01:34:39
tell you what, trust me. Don't you crust? Just leave it alone. And you know what? Remember what they said, right?
01:34:45
Okay. Am I Am I bad looking? Okay. Why are you putting that into the kid's head? Because I don't want him to fight. I don't want to fight. Everyone gets hurt. Everyone get deflated. Anybody get used? What you're saying is
01:34:57
irrelevant at this time. It's irrelevant. Yeah. Why? Because you made that happen. It's like worrying
01:35:03
about what might not happen. You Let me Let me just bring this point to you for a minute. I would never want when I have
01:35:11
kids for my child to be in the car. So, what do I do? I say, "I'm not buying you a car and you can't drive." Is that the right thing to do? I want to try it.
01:35:28
It's It's a really any Okay, I will I will um I'll let you try. All you've got to
01:35:34
do is tell me a word. If you tell me, I'll help you. Okay, Dory said yes. Stop saying do you
01:35:41
say no? I want to do it. You want to do it? Yeah. Okay. I've won to watch. You'll be one to
01:35:52
watch. My wife throw her blood in mock. What's going on there in that video that
01:35:59
I just played? Fear. That's a father who is is thinking about all the things he's gone through and fearing that his son will walk into
01:36:13
that, you know, into that industry, walk down that path and have to go through all those things that he went through
01:36:18
that he worked so hard to kind of keep his family away from. So you got Lennox Lewis siding with you and that's your
01:36:26
mother. Yeah. And she's also trying to persuade him to let you have a shot at boxing. When you watch that video now
01:36:32
after everything that happened with the fight we just all watched where there was almost 70,000 people in an arena,
01:36:38
people watching all over the world. It's been this global phenomenon, not just in the UK, but I was in America and New
01:36:43
York this weekend and it's people are talking about it there. How does it feel to look back at that video?
01:36:50
Uh, it's scary, man. It's scary. I mean, everything he's saying is right. He's completely right. You know, boxing is a tragic sport for the
01:37:03
people that are making you get disfigured and used. Um, you know, disfigured. I've been used plenty of times. It's scary
01:37:15
to to think about how far we've come from that moment in time. Um, all the things I've gone through, all the things I've done.
01:37:26
And you know, he has he had every right to feel the way he did because champions hard men don't come from those backgrounds that you saw that
01:37:42
that was filmed in a multi-million pound house. You know, I I went to private school the next day after that interview. Kids that live that life
01:37:57
don't accomplish anything in such a barbaric sport because there's just too much pain and suffering you have to go through and there's too many times
01:38:10
where naturally you'll look for ways out. Now the kids that come from broken homes, poverty and you know
01:38:22
nothing, they don't have any door other doors to open and walk through. So when they go to the gym and when they go into these fights, if I don't get through this
01:38:35
door, I don't eat. I can't pay the rent. Can't feed my family. For me, when I'm looking at that door that I have to go through, whether it's in a
01:38:49
gym or in a fight, I know that if I don't make it through that door, there's a door there and a door
01:39:00
there and a door there and a door there. And if I'm experiencing too much pain to get to that door knob to open it, I can just step back. You know what?
01:39:11
All right, let's go over here. Football, business, acting. I could do whatever I wanted with the position I was in as a
01:39:24
kid. I still wanted to walk through that horrible, painful, nasty boxing door and
01:39:32
open that door. and you walk through the door and you get punched in the stomach
01:39:37
and you go through that and then you got to walk through the other door and you get cut above your eye and just keep
01:39:43
walking, keep walking, keep walking, keep walking and there's all these other doors. Hey, come come come come. We just
01:39:48
just just take the easy route. Take the easy route. No, I'm staying here. So, it was so much harder for me
01:39:54
to do what I was doing because there was so many other choices. And my father thought
01:40:01
that as soon as I reached that first door, I'd be like, you know what? No, he said it. I'm not going to be hard enough. And nine times out of 10, kids
01:40:13
are not hard enough in that in that position. But I was I was hellbent on proving him wrong and proving and proving myself right. I knew
01:40:24
I had in me. I felt what I had in me anyway. didn't know. You never know until you're you're in those positions.
01:40:31
But I just the strength and the, you know, that that feeling inside of me was so it was so visceral. I was like, there's no way I can't do this.
01:40:42
Like if I just if I put everything into this, how can I fail? Maybe he was calling you bluff. That's the another
01:40:49
crazy thing that I used to think about. Did he was he was he saying this to make me
01:40:57
to make me push harder because he's thinking, "All right, well, if I if I say, oh, he'll be great. When he gets to
01:41:03
those painful positions, he's already kind of got my or I've already got his his his
01:41:11
blessing." So, it's like, "Oh, well, you know, he's he's behind me anyway regardless." So, you know, I tried my
01:41:17
best. Or does he want me to be at that front door thinking like, "Oh, man. He's he said I couldn't do it. Am I going to let him be right? No. Well, he did put a chip on your shoulder
01:41:29
in that regard. For sure. Massive. Massive. I saw the press conference with you and
01:41:35
um Eddie Hearn and I also saw the one with where Eddie Han walks off and then Frank Smith comes in. Frank Smith is
01:41:40
like your brother-in-law. Unfortunately, yes, he is. You and my sister have been together for a long, long time, which is an extremely wild thing to think that
01:41:55
the CEO of Matroom Boxing is basically your brother-in-law. Yeah. You know, do you get along? No, absolutely not. You don't get along? No, we were okay. We
01:42:07
were fine for a couple of years, for for a number of years. You know, I even spent Christmases with them.
01:42:14
Um but it got to a stage where I started to see Matram Eddie Hearn and himself trying to block me in terms of
01:42:28
the business side of the sport. You know I am with a promotional company called Boxer.
01:42:36
Boxer and Matrim which is Eddie Hearn and and Frank Smith are you know deathly enemies. They are arch
01:42:47
[Music] rivals. So they do anything they can to screw over Boxer. I'm with Boxer. So Frank Smith is
01:43:00
trying to sabotage or was trying to sabotage certain things going on in my career.
01:43:08
Um being a part of Matram. As soon as I learned that it doesn't matter that you're in a
01:43:14
relationship with my sister, we are not, you know, we are never going to talk again. Uh we are never going to be
01:43:21
cordial again. Um you are working against me. He was sitting in that arena on Saturday night praying that I lose. Why didn't you sign to Matroom? Did you try? They
01:43:35
they they offered. Why did you say no? I don't trust Eddie Hearn. I don't trust Frank Smith. I don't trust Matram. These people are
01:43:47
um they're dangerous. Um, and you know, it's it's it's crazy to think that yeah, he is with my sister. I
01:44:00
don't know how that relationship came about, but love is a peculiar thing. And you're good with your sister, obviously. Of course. Of course. She was there in your corner for the fight. Yeah. And I I
01:44:12
was actually thinking I'm going to ask her, you know, how does it go? like, you know, you guys go back home together, you guys are lying in
01:44:23
bed, I've just won, Connor Ben's just lost. What do you guys like say to each other? You know, like cuz Frank is distraught that that that that Connor Ben lost, you know, that's their golden
01:44:36
boy. That's their ticket. You know, I'm my sister's I'm my sister's brother. So, it's like you've
01:44:43
got two completely opposite sides in the same bed. What do you guys say to each other? You know, it's it's just I want
01:44:50
to ask her that question. We have a closing tradition on this podcast where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, not knowing who they're
01:44:55
leaving it for. And the question left for you is, if you could listen to one album for the rest of your life, what
01:45:01
would it be and why? One album for the rest of my life, it would have to be something timeless, something that can be something that lasts, you know? So,
01:45:13
it would have to be something like Michael Jackson thriller, you know, a classic, something that in 200 years
01:45:19
time you're going to still have kids listening to it that yeah, this is this is my jam right here.
01:45:25
Um, yeah, I guess that would be the album. Chris, uh, thank you so much for giving all of us as boxing fans a moment that we will never forget. I I do have
01:45:37
to say I've been to a lot of boxing fights all over the world and one of my favorite fights was this Lachenko fight that I saw in New York but without a
01:45:43
shadow of a doubt that is the best boxing fight I've ever seen in person and not just because of the fight itself
01:45:49
but because of all of the subplots and all of the inspiration it gives everybody. Um watching you go into that
01:45:56
12th round with Connor and give everything when it was so abundantly clear that you had nothing in the tank
01:46:02
sends a message to all of us that there's so much more within us that we probably don't always realize. And sometimes it takes, you know, the family
01:46:08
legacy or something deep and and profound and meaningful for us to find that in ourselves. But even as you
01:46:14
talked about the, you know, I've had certain, you know, challenges with my family's family over the years and with my parents, with my mother and these
01:46:20
kinds of things and there's been fractures and years where I was disowned and all these kinds of things. And I saw myself in all of that. You know, my my
01:46:26
my mother had um some struggles that she went through which was somewhat similar in elements to the struggles that your
01:46:32
father went through. And I know what it feels like. I know what it feels like. So, it just gave it gave everybody so
01:46:39
much. And I'm so glad you've been able to get out onto the streets for the first time since the fight and feel that because you brought so much joy. Both of
01:46:45
you, both you and Connor, both so much joy, so much inspiration and memories that I will tell my kids about and I'll
01:46:51
say, "I was there for that fight." And I'm so happy for you as well because I know the career journey you've been on and the twists and turns and everything.
01:46:57
So, I'm so glad that the public got to know all of you. not just the the coldfaced guy that you know throws a good uppercut, but the human as well.
01:47:11
And it's in part, I think, because of some of the difficult moments you've been through that you've stepped out a
01:47:16
little bit more and become more comfortable with showing the world all that you are. And that's the most valuable, Chris, that I think um the
01:47:22
world can see. So, thank you. Really, really appreciative. And I can't wait to see these next couple of fights you have
01:47:28
as you close out what has been a remarkable career. Thank you. [Music] This has always blown my mind a little bit. 53% of you that listen to this show regularly haven't yet subscribed to the
01:47:42
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01:47:53
power, me and my team, to make sure that this show is better for you every single week. We'll listen to your feedback.
01:47:59
We'll find the guest that you want me to speak to and we'll continue to do what we do. Thank you so much.
01:48:05
[Music] [Music]