Chris Eubank Sr. is a British former two-weight world champion known for his eccentric personality and title bouts against Nigel Benn and Michael Watson.
Chris Eubank won the WBO middleweight and super middleweight titles and went undefeated at middleweight throughout his career, yet it was the theatrical persona he constructed — the monocle, the jodhpurs, the distinctive vault over the ring ropes — that made him one of the most recognisable figures in British sport during the early 1990s. He was eventually expelled from school and moved to New York as a teenager, where he began training at the Jerome Boxing Club, later writing that his drive to succeed stemmed partly from a desire to overcome bullying from his own brothers. Eubank turned professional in 1985 and transformed himself into one of British boxing's most theatrical and polarising figures, adopting a deliberately upper-class persona — complete with a monocle, jodhpurs, and a distinctive vaulting entrance over the ring ropes — that made him one of the most recognisable sporting celebrities of the early 1990s. Eubank won the WBO middleweight and super middleweight titles, remaining undefeated at middleweight throughout his career, and his rivalry with Nigel Benn, contested across two enormously popular fights in 1990 and 1993, became one of the defining stories of British boxing's 1990s golden era. His 1991 title defence against Michael Watson left his opponent with severe, life-changing brain injuries, a result that weighed heavily on Eubank for years afterward. Eubank retired in 1998 with a record of 45 wins, five losses, and two draws, and later became a media personality and reality television participant. His son, Chris Eubank Jr., has continued the family's boxing legacy into a new generation of British fighters.
WBO middleweight and super-middleweight champion; rivalry with Nigel Benn and Michael Watson
How They Played
Unorthodox southpaw with exceptional defensive skills, high guard, and awkward angles
Lasting Impact
One of Britain's most charismatic boxers who helped popularize boxing in the UK during the 1990s
Career Honours
- Ranked 3rd greatest British super-middleweight of all time by BoxRec