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Chris Eubank Jr has revealed his father Chris Eubank Snr used to physically beat him as a child but insists the frequent punishments he suffered were not \u2018abuse\u2019.<\/p>\n
Ahead of his rematch against Liam Smith on Saturday, Eubank Jr, 33, appeared on The Overlap with Gary Neville where he discussed his upbringing under his former world champion father, one of the country\u2019s most famous fighters.<\/p>\n
Eubank Jr admitted he feared his father growing up but stopped short of labelling it \u2018unhealthy\u2019. <\/p>\n
The Brighton fighter explained he was often beaten with \u2018a belt, a cane, or a slap\u2019 when he got into trouble as a youngster, adding the beatings only came when he \u2018stepped out of line\u2019 as a young \u2018tearaway.\u2019<\/p>\n
The middleweight fighter insisted the punishments from his father were a means to show him \u2018there are consequences in life\u2019 and believes they \u2018made me the man I am today\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t know if it would say unhealthy, he was extremely strict,\u2019 Eubank Jr said. \u2018I got away with nothing. If I messed up in school, if I didn\u2019t 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, a slap.<\/p>\n
\u2018Back then, in the 90s that was how you disciplined your kids. That is where my fear originated from. But again, that type of punishment, that upbringing, that made me who I am today. It prepared me for the brutality of the sport of boxing.<\/p>\n
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Asked by Neville if he would call it abuse, Eubank Jr responded: \u2018Absolutely not. In my opinion\u2026 that\u2019s a good question, because some people will hear \u201che got beat with a belt or a cane and that\u2019s 100 per cent abuse\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018But in my opinion abuse is unwarranted. Abuse is somebody doing something for no reason, abuse is a parent coming home drunk and taking their anger out on their kids. That was never the case with me. I got punished when I stepped out of line. He was teaching me for everything you do there are consequences, good and bad.<\/p>\n
\u2018When I did good things he rewarded me immensely, and when I did bad things he punished me. Life lessons, not abuse at all. <\/p>\n
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\u2018I 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.<\/p>\n
\u2018I was doing that knowing if I got caught I\u2019d be in serious s**t when I got home. I look at it as if, imagine if there were no consequences for what I did. Imagine if I had a parent who said, \u201ccome on son, have a time out\u201d. I was already a wild man, I would have been off the rails.\u2019<\/p>\n
Eubank Jr also recalled incidents where after getting into trouble in school, he would attempt to protect himself from beatings by \u2018padding\u2019 himself with extra clothing.<\/p>\n
\u2018I would prepare, I would go into my gym back and put layers of shorts, pants and socks, tuck them into my boxers because I knew as soon as I\u2019m getting home I\u2019m getting my a**e kicked. It worked for a while, I had to pretend it was hurting!\u2019 Eubank Jr said, laughing as he explained the story.<\/p>\n
\u2018I did that for a while then one time, a sock falls out and he sees it. That was a bad day. At the time it\u2019s scary and you hate it but looking back on it, what would I have been like without that discipline.\u2019<\/p>\n