Chris Eubank Jr. has admitted that his legendary boxer father Chris Eubank Sr. hit him when he was younger. However, he maintains that he was not the victim of abuse.
Eubank Jr. made an an appearance on The Overlap with Gary Neville to speak about his upcoming match against Liam Smith. Additionally, he also talked about his upbringing and having a previous world champion as his father.
Eubank Jr acknowledges that his upbringing was marked by remarkable discipline and strictness. He said: “I don’t know if I would say unhealthy.”
Eubank Jr faced consequences for his actions. If he faltered in school, neglected chores, or engaged in conflicts with his siblings, physical punishments followed.
“I mean, he was extremely strict. I got away with nothing. If I messed up in school, if I didn’t do a chore, if I got into a fight with my brothers, there was physical punishment whether it was a belt, whether it was a cane, whether it was a slap.”
Neville then questioned Eubank Jr whether he would call that abuse, and he said: “Absolutely not.”
While some might view such discipline as extreme, Eubank Jr sees it as the foundation of his resilience.
He continued: “That’s a good question because some people will hear, ‘he got beat with a belt or a cane and that’s 100 per cent abuse.’ But in my opinion, abuse is unwarranted.”
“Abuse is somebody doing something for no reason, abuse is a parent coming home () and taking their anger out on their kids. That was never the case with me. I got punished when I stepped out of line, when I got into fights, when I got into trouble at school.”
His father’s approach was balanced; he rewarded commendable actions and penalized transgressions. Eubank Jr views this as a valuable life lesson, rather than abuse.
Eubank Jr added: “He was teaching me for everything you do there are consequences, good and bad. When I did good things he rewarded me immensely, and when I did bad things, he punished me.”
Eubank Jr. believes that his father prevented him from making huge mistakes in his life. He reflects on the impact of his father’s guidance, asserting that it is “Life lessons, not abuse at all.”
He continued: “I was still such a bad kid. I was a tearaway, I was in a gang, I was getting into fights. At 11 years old I spent two hours breaking into a sweet shop with my mates and emptied the place. I was doing that knowing if I got caught, I’d be in serious s*** when I got home.”
Despite his rebellious tendencies, he acknowledges the significance of the lessons imparted. He explained: “I look at it as, imagine if there were no consequences for what I did. Imagine if I had a parent who said, ‘Come on son, take a time out.’ I was already a wild man. I would have been off the rails.”