You're the first person I've really

spoken to about this type of stuff. I

was in hospital after the fight lying

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

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

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

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

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

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

fight through the demons, the issues,

the restrictions. because I wasn't

willing to go the rest of my life

knowing that I didn't give it my all.

That lives with you forever. So, the

technicality of the sport was out the

window. We are going to war. Was Connor

faster than you were expecting? Yep. Was

he stronger than you expecting? Yep. And

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

have been estranged for years. But what

caused that relationship to strain? I

sent him a letter and that broke him.

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

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continue to do what we do. Thank you so

much.

Chris, you haven't really spoken since

the fight, especially not in in long

form. So, I guess the best place to

start is just by asking you how you're

feeling. That was pretty [ __ ] crazy.

[ __ ] 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

in.

Um, I genuinely thought that, uh, I was

going to go in there. I was going

to have my way with this

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

happen. And thank God that I was wrong.

Because if that had

happened, it would not be a fight that

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.

This was amazing. For a fight to reach

that level of love and and respect, both

fighters have

to go through the fire.

Both fires have to do things that

um may seem superhuman, may seem like

impossible. They have to go through

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

ring. That's what boxing is really

about. And it's so rare to see these

days. You know, we just saw over the

weekend some of the best fighters on the

planet right

now. Devin Haney, Canelo, Ryan

Garcia. You know, they their fights were

um underwhelming to say the least.

boring. In those three fights, the total

amount of punches

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,

which is a pretty incredible statistic.

And it just shows

you how much that fight meant to both of

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

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

for the first time yesterday in Brixton

and to see the people's reactions for

the first time really to really see it.

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

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

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

their own problems with their families.

So to see me and my father going through

what we were going

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

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

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

with you that

night? Because I was watching. I was

ringside and you didn't look normal,

especially in those opening rounds. You

had the

same dog in you that you've always had,

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

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

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

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

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

whether it's injuries, whether it's

illness, whether

it's uh mental

[Music]

problems. We all have to fight through

these things.

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

fighters. You have to fight through the

demons. You have to fight through the

issues. You have to fight through the

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

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

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

fight began and I didn't think you were

quite yourself. I've been to your

fights. I've been to many other fights,

you know. Um, I've watched you in

Manchester as well, ringside, and you

didn't look the same. So, now I have

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

great physical health, but you say there

was other things going on in your

life. What category were those things

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

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

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

make

excuses. I I'm not looking for sympathy.

I'm not looking for a reason for people

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

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

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

changing room to check my hands. uh and

and and and and ruffling the feathers of

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.

And I never let that happen. And I'm

very

um I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I

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,

there's another trap. Round it. Forward.

Another trap. Round it.

Forward. That is a part of being a

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

your enemy. You have to understand the

things that people are trying to do to

take you out of your comfort zone, out

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

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

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,

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]

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

how much worse is it going to get?

It was tough. It was really

tough.

But on the subject of my

father, regardless of what he said about

me and about the

fight, he was there when it mattered the

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

fight. He said, "Um, call me when you

see

this." So, I saw the

text and I thought, you know

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

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

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

will never be in this my son's corner.

This is all I'm hearing from him for two

months.

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,

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?

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

I'm like, you know what?

I've been through so much [ __ ] in the

last two

months. What more could possibly What

more could possibly be thrown at me? The

end of the day is my old man. He's text

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

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,

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,

you know. Just getting ready to go to

sleep. Got a big day

tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know,

son. I know you got a big day tomorrow.

And

[Music]

um I want to be there for you.

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

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

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,

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

to that ring

alone. I just, you know, it never

crossed my mind that my old man would be

behind me.

Um, I envisioned walking to the ring

alone, being booed,

um, and getting into that ring and

fighting

with anger in my

heart. That's that's what I thought that

fight was going to

be. What it turned out to be

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

a

crowd and there's no

booze. I'm used to walking up into these

rings and I'm looking out and people are

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

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

eyes. I'm seeing grown men with tears in

their

eyes and smiles and

you know, God rest slow. And it's

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

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

joy. This is, you know, this is this is

going to be different. This fight is

about to be something different. I don't

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

do you think I want from you?

I thought about it for a long

time and I genuinely couldn't answer the

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

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

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?

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

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

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

he's not there because he loves me and

because he wants to see

me win. He wants to support me. Uh he

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

to even mention money because then that

would mean that there's there's no

coming

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

life and you're just saying you got to

pay me, that means for the rest of our

lives now, our our relationship will

never ever be the

same. So, I was scared to say that and I

was scared at the question. I had to

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.

I said, "You want a hug? I give you a

hug?" He said,

"No, I want

nothing. Absolutely

nothing." And when he said

that, you know, my heart

It was just an over an overwhelm an

overwhelming feeling of

joy. Okay, my dad is here

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.

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

I needed it. And he was there to do it.

I'll never forget that. Him being there

that night for

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

gone. How did you throw 300 punches in

the last two

rounds? Well, I had to come outside of

myself. It became

spiritual. It wasn't about the

physical. I was dehydrated.

I was experiencing all the things that

had been restricting me

um leading up to the

fight. So it it became not about the

physical. It came about the spiritual.

It became about just being

true. Just being the man I know I can

be.

I told you a story once about being on

that

treadmill

and you've got that cramp in your in

your

foot, but you said you was going to do

the 10

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

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

rounds. I never gave up in the gyms.

When I was getting beaten up in

sparring, I never quit. I would come

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,

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

got a big cut across your

eye and you're going to ask yourself

that question getting up off the stool

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

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.

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

forward? Did you put it all on the line

or did you

retreat? I wasn't willing to go the rest

of my life knowing that I didn't give it

my all. regardless of the cut,

regardless of everything I was going

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

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

that I'm capable of great

things and I'm capable

of going through things that

99.999% of human beings on this earth

were not willing to go through and that

will live

forever. And that's a beautiful feeling.

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

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

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

and years of graft, hard

work, and just being

true, not cutting corners, not cheating,

um not being a

bully. Chris, everybody has a different

relationship with their family. You've

always been a seemingly quite

emotionless individual, very cold

exterior as you've described it

yourself. So, it's really moving and

interesting to

hear how much your dad meant to you. And

as you were speaking, I was thinking

about to all these interviews I've seen

of you over the years where you cite him

as your biggest role model in

life. I've kind of got two points. The

first, I guess, is a point which is just

I had no idea he meant that much to you.

I had no idea. And secondly, the

question

is what caused that

relationship to

strain? My father is an extremely proud

and an

extremely intense human

being. He has his ways of thinking. He

has his ways of living,

teaching,

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

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

responsibility

and it became too

much. I was

known for being the son of for so many

years she makes

son. And I I I kind of whenever I would

hear that, you know, well, at least they

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

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

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

media, the press conferences, these were

all things that he was right by my side

for my entire career. I knew that to get

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

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

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

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

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

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

thing

out. Couldn't be in conversation.

I said to him, I am the

boss. And that broke

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

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?

All right. Well, then

bye. That was his reaction. It shouldn't

have been that way, but that's how he

dealt with the disappointment and the

frustration of what I was doing, which

was going my own way. Then you have

the tragedy of my brother Sebastian

passing away. And this would have

happened

maybe a year or two after I sent that

letter. That affected him deeply. It

affected all of us deeply.

But yeah, it it affected him so

much

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

my career. my brother passes away and

that caused him to do certain things in

his life

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

about this and I've never spoken about

it. He started smoking

marijuana, I guess, to

um deal with

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

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

which you know we never recovered from

up

until last

weekend. Since that night before the

night the fight and every day since then

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

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

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

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

father. So now we are going to build.

We're going to build. We're going to

build. And I think our relationship is

only going to get stronger and stronger

and stronger. I said it before the

fight. This fight is either going to

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

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

an interview I think the day or the day

before the fight where he was in tears

kept saying to a boxing journalist that

the fight shouldn't go ahead and

expressing you know his concerns about

the fight

etc. Did it impact your mental health?

It was

upsetting. It was

distracting. It was horrible knowing

that, you

know, this deeply personal situation we

have is now fully public. It's all over

Tik Tok. It's all over

Instagram. You know, the

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

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

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

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

to lose those last few pounds." I have

the actual quote here. You said, "The

weight is painful. I'll be in even more

pain tonight and tomorrow." The question

I ask myself is, "What is pain? I have a

31-year-old brother that is buried in

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

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,

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

boxing, but in that moment, that's what

I'm thinking.

you know, yeah, this this weight cut and

this re rehydration

clause [ __ ] hurts, but guess what? It

isn't anything compared

to those three things that I listed and

all and and and the other things that

are going on in my personal life that

I'm having to deal with and struggle

with

um all while getting ready for this huge

fight.

So if I can if I can deal with those

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

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

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

say he's at the office. Where's the

office? Let's go to the office and see

my daddy. My own

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

incomparable, you know. So when

Conorman's talking about, I you know,

you just worry about making weight.

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

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

going on in my life.

And um the people saw that and

they I guess they they loved seeing that

vulnerable side to me

uh because it's real and it's what it's

what millions and billions of people are

dealing with in their own

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

humbling thing to see.

And it's one of the reasons why, you

know, when I'm walking to the ring,

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

tell me after the fight. I called my dad

straight

away. Haven't spoke to him for months,

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

mind? There is a

picture there was a picture of him on my

shorts right on the

side and he's

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

energy. This is for you. This is for

Raheem. This is for the family. This is

for the

Eubanks. I can't look at that

picture and lose. It's impossible.

It's

impossible. Raheem has had a big impact

on

you.

Massive. Never

thought Never thought that I could

experience the love and the

warmth that I have when I'm around

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

that. I never got it.

I just I guess I was just too busy with

my own life, my own career, my own

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

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

teaching him things, when I'm taking him

to places and watching him grow and

watching him learn new words and new

expressions, it makes me really happy,

you know. And before Raheem, I thought

happiness was uh, you know, a big win at

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

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,

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

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

attack. It was like

a something happened with his

heart. And of all places, he's having a

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

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

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

just put things into perspective and it

just makes you appreciate and respect

life so much more because you understand

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

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

and appreciation.

You know, before

that, I'd have days or weeks where I

would just, you know, I'd [ __ ]

around, waste time, video

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

still, you know, you still have to have

those moments in your life where you can

just kind of

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

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

know

that you know we have a finite amount of

time on this earth you know. So are you

going to make it

count? Are you going to make it count or

are you going to waste it? There are

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?

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

terms in terms of free, I mean, you

know, you're not waking up and working,

you know, 12-hour shifts just so that

you can eat to and

live. You know, we have free time. We

have leisure. We have

uh you know disposable

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

all of this on your mind heading into

that fight, I remember the last before

the last fight was cancelled, you were

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

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

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

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

strength and speed. Well, I had a, you

know, regardless of what happened

outside

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

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

this uh

for sympathy or as an excuse. It was my

own doing. I take full

responsibility. And I say that

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

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

weight do you walk around at? Just for

context. So in context, I usually put on

maybe 14 or 15 pounds after after a

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

pay million dollar fine. But if I saw

you in the street in like two months

time, what weight would you be at? Well,

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.

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

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.

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

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

just drain my body of of all the of all

the fluids and it's it's torture. You're

torturing yourself. You're literally

torturing yourself doing this. But

you've got to make the weight. If you

don't make the

weight, they're coming for that cash,

baby. You know, and that's what they've

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

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

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.

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

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

should have been no rehydration

restriction in the first place. If you'd

said no to it, would the fight have

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

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

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

heard. Yes, I did. And Turkey said,

"Yes." Yes, he did. At the first number

you named, you [ __ ] up.

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

them halfway. But that's the thing you

know when you're negotiating with

promoters or

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

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

is just yala, you

know.

Um but again, I said I'm not greedy. It,

you know, they paid me, you know,

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

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

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

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

number, he says yes. Do you get

incentivized on how the fight does in

terms of pay-per-view? That is well that

that's all that all comes in the

contract. So, you know, you have your

purse. Yeah. And then you will agree

on if we get to 500,000 buys, then I get

a percentage. Okay? And then if it hits

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

celebrate. Let's travel. Let's buy this

car and this watch, this

house. Oh, it's gym today. I was

tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow, it's okay.

It's okay. That's the trap that so many

fighters fall into. And that's why I

have so much respect for Floyd

Mayweather. He has made a disgusting

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,

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

lifetime of dedication and sacrifice.

Which is

why I never gave up going through all

the things I was going through leading

up to this fight.

because I know I've put the work in

since I was 14 years old. So, it doesn't

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

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

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

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

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

was still possessed, as you've kind of

said, by something else. Because even

when it looked to me like there was no

energy left, your arms were still

swinging and you were still marching

forward. So, it was it was confusing.

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

nothing left. What's what's going

through your head in those moments when

you you've got no energy, but Connor

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

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

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

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

confusion on their

faces. You know, when you have an

instruction from a trainer and a team,

you're supposed to abide by it. So, when

I'm telling them it's too

late, what do you think it's too

late? I had already gone into war mode.

Once you once you

commit as a fighter, once you commit to

a

certain path you're going to walk

down, it's it's pretty much impossible

to then switch

back. I had a

cut from a headbutt. You know, the blood

was going down into my I couldn't

see. Fights can get stopped from cuts.

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.

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

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

boxing. It is trench warfare. You know,

when you're dehydrated as well after the

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

any moisture in it and you're

dehydrated, your face puffs up. I think

it's just the skin is weak and it just

puffs up. And that's

what what I was suffering with most in

hospital was

just complete dehydration. It got to a

point

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.

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

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

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

across my eye. Got my headache is

crazy, you know, and I'm feeling sorry

for myself. I'm like, this is [ __ ] up.

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

bad. I'm lying there. I've got my mask

on. Oxygen

mask. I can hear everything that's going

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.

I'm looking up. I'm like, "Oh man, this

is so

bad. Get me the morphine. Get me the

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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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

appreciation for him? Because before the

fight, that was certainly not the case.

I said it after the fight. I wasn't

expecting him to be able to do what he

did in terms of show the

heart and the determination and the will

to win. He never gave up. I didn't know

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

feeling the pace, and he'd look for a

way out. He did not do that.

So in that

respect I have respect for

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

much all fighters do after they fight.

And especially a fight like that, you

would expect

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

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

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

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

respect from me. I can't give you that

respect because there are kids who are

saying, "Oh, well, hold on. He was doing

drugs a couple couple years ago. He got

caught, but now it's okay." You know,

you So, this really did bother you. I

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

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

voluntary anti-doping tests for

clomophene testosterone boosting

substance and therefore the original

fight was

cancelled. Um the UK anti-doping

association formally suspended Connor

for a doping violation. They reinstated

Connor citing after citing egg

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

intentional use. I wasn't sure if you

were actually really bothered by this or

whether it was part of the promotion of

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

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

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

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

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

was a part of me that did wonder for a

second maybe something did happen

because that is the reaction of someone

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.

You can be suicidal and

devastated after getting caught doing

something you shouldn't have done. You

can still have that

reaction. Let's say

that he did

unintentionally take these drugs.

Somebody slipped something into his

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

you want to fantasize

this beautiful

story. Let's say that this impossible

thing has

happened. As a fighter, as an

athlete, you only have a few jobs that

you have to

do. You have to train hard to go to

sleep on

time. You have to prepare. You have

to, you know, you have to

um make sure that your diet, your fluid

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

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,

whether it's fluid, whether

it's drugs, you have to know. That's

your job.

So, if you're irresponsible enough to

let

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

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.

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

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

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

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

fighters, they fail drug tests, they

serve a little ban, they pay a fine,

they're back in the ring, and people

kind of just

forget, kind of just get swept under.

Oh, don't talk about that. Come on. You

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.

There's going to be pictures that are

going to circulate around the

world. That memory will stay with him

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

egg? Oh, cuz he was treating with drugs

and it was it was a contaminated egg or

something like that. I want that story

to live with him. There's a rematch

clause. I'm assuming the rematch clause

I don't know how these things work, but

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.

You you know the fight will be bigger.

Okay. The fight will sell more

pay-per-views. It will sell more

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

lost this fight, you would have got paid

less. Absolutely. Significantly less. I

mean, it would still be incredible

numbers, but yes, you'd lose millions.

Millions if you lose the fight. For

sure. Interesting. But that's, you know,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

think that in the day before the fight

when you were

struggling? Did you even think you were

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.

Were there people around you encouraging

you or floating the idea of you pulling

out of the fight because of your health

condition?

I never said I had a health condition.

You are, you know, kind of listening to

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.

[Music]

Um, I'm not going to answer that

question either. Okay. So, does that

mean that there is going to be the

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

been booked but you know they have their

plans they have their direction and you

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

that fight will happen again at some

point this year. And do you want that

fight next? I want what the fans

want. You know, if the fans want to see

it

next, who am I to to say no? You know,

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

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

pictures of hitting the bags and stuff.

It's amazing. Crazy. How much better do

you think you could be as a percentage?

Um, if every, you know, dad's back in

your corner

now, you you're going to be a bit more

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

fought him. I've lived with him for 12

rounds. I know what he is, what he's

capable of.

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

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

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

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

and preparation, I got back into the

ring with that same guy and I battered

him. That's all I thought about, you

know.

So, I believe the same thing will happen

with Connor. I won the first fight and I

got to experience what he

is. There's so many things I know now

about him that I can practice, perfect,

tweak, tailor my performance to to take

advantage of his weaknesses. And he will

probably do the same with me. Yeah. But

my

experience is so more superior to what

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

in a ring with somebody before that he

doesn't. I've been in rematches before.

I rematched Liam Smith who beat me in

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

expecting? Yep.

Stronger, faster,

tougher, and more most importantly

is more mentally

prepared and more mentally

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

show that

dog. We both had to be dogs at the end

of that fight and throughout the entire

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

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

someone who is absolutely unwilling to

quit? That is an absolute dog. That is

also learned from

you. Is there not an element of you that

goes, "Fucking hell, you know, I'd

rather avoid that. I've got eight

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

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

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

[Music]

where what's going to happen? Am I going

to be able to do it? I live for that. I

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,

"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

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

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

human beings when they're in painful

situations, what can I do to avoid that?

I want to get into it

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

buildup was legendary, but the walk out

was also legendary. I've seen I walked I

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

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

entire career. So to have an orchestra

playing that behind me was special. Um

you had Simply the Best as well. Yeah.

Simply the best, which I'm guessing was

a last minute addition. Absolutely. We

we're supposed to have an artist. We we

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

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

requested a song, didn't he? So that's

the So he said so he said what do you

want from

me or what what do you think I want? He

said I said I don't know dad. You want a

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

want you to play at some point in the

walk

out. And I'm like here we go. We already

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

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

the whole setup. We've had all these,

you know, all these things, you know,