Following his big win over domestic rival James DeGale this past weekend, Chris Eubank Jr. talks a bit about the fight, what it means, and what he wants to do going foward during his post-fight press conference. Check it out...
Eubank Jr. on his fight with DeGale:
“This was the career-defining fight for me. This was make or break, do or die like I said in the build-up. I had to win, I had to make a statement and I believe that’s exactly what I did tonight.”
On if he ever thought he was close to stopping DeGale:
“Yes, I did. I’m very surprised he was able to continue. I’ve knocked guys out with some of the shots I caught him with. He showed the heart of a champion, helluva chin, and grit and determination to get up and continue but he was hurt, he was hurt from the very beginning and I don’t think he fully recovered. I gained a lot of respect for James. I didn’t know he had that in him.”
On what fights he wants to do next:
“A little break and then straight back on it. You know, I wanna challenge for world titles, I wanna fight the big names — whether that’s in the middleweight or super middleweight division, I’m not really too bothered. I can make both weights. So it’s kind of whatever’s put in front of me, whatever the best route is I will take.”
On if he felt he was in control early against DeGale:
“James is, his whole style is — even his presence and the way he’s built — is very awkward. I haven’t seen the fight but I’m sure it looked a little bit ugly in certain areas just from the fact that he’s a slick awkward southpaw and it’s very hard to pin a man like that down and get off shots so I just had to drag him into the trenches...but again, I was very surprised at his grit, I didn’t think that he had it in him to get up after two heavy knockdowns like that and keep going and take them big shots. So, respect to him for that.”
On the difference in having a full-time trainer:
“Nate brought focus to the build-up, to the preparation. He brought a tailored, focused training camp which I’ve never really had before. I had the right sparring, I was working on the right things for what James DeGale is. Previously — all my previous fights was just get fit, spar whoever’s in the gym, and fight.
“For this we studied, we had a game plan and we had a strategy, and we studied what James was and that’s what we will continue to do now for my future fights.”
On how satisfying this win is:
“Extremely. You know, him saying that I can’t mix at his level and at world-level I can’t win, I can’t beat the top guys, I needed to prove that point wrong. And he managed to get a lot of people to believe that. So now, hopefully, I’ve turned some of the doubters, some of the haters, into believers. Not all of them, they’ll still be guys out there that are on Twitter right now saying that I was lucky, or whatever they wanna say, and that I’m still not the real deal.
“I just gotta keep going out there and proving what I am — which is a world-level elite fighter.”
On Billy Joe Saunders saying he’s willing to fight him again:
“Absolutely. We’ve got a lot of history and he has been caught doing drugs, which I can’t condone, so I look at that and think ‘does he deserve it?’ But at the end of the day the rivalry that we have, it’s tough not to want that fight. So that’s definitely something that I will be open to moving forward.”