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The Diary of a CEOThe Diary of a CEO

Chris Eubank Jr & Sr: The night before that ended the rift

How a hotel meeting the night before recast a public disgrace; the fight itself, the weight cuts, the letter, and the brother named Sebastian.

Chris Eubank JrguestSteven Bartletthost
May 8, 20251h 48mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 2:11

    Intro

    1. CJ

      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've got my mask on, thinking, "This is so bad. Get me the morphine, get me the morphine." I've got my family around me. Some of them crying. And 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 gonna die."

    2. NA

      Chris Eubank Jr. (crowd cheering)

    3. SB

      Chris, you haven't really spoken since that 12th round with Conor. How do you rate your own performance?

    4. CJ

      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, "You've gotta 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, your 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.

    5. SB

      Was Conor faster than you were expecting?

    6. CJ

      Yeah.

    7. SB

      Was he stronger than you were expecting?

    8. CJ

      Yeah. But 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.

    9. SB

      But what caused that relationship to strain?

    10. CJ

      I sent him a letter and that broke him. You know, I, I get emotional thinking about this.

    11. SB

      What did that letter say? (dramatic music) This has always blown my mind a little bit. 53% of you that listen to this show regularly haven't yet subscribed to the show. So could I ask you for a favor before we start? If you like the show, and you like what we do here, and you wanna support us, the free simple way that you can do just that is by hitting the subscribe button. And my commitment to you is, if you do that, then I'll do everything in my power, me and my team, to make sure that this show is better for you every single week. We'll listen to your feedback, we'll find the guests that you want me to speak to, and we'll continue to do what we do. Thank you so much. (upbeat music) Chris, you haven't really spoken since the fight, especially not in, in long form. So I guess the best place to start

  2. 2:11 – 6:24

    How Are You Feeling After the Fight?

    1. SB

      is just by asking you how you're feeling. That was pretty fucking crazy.

    2. CJ

      Fucking crazy is, uh, is, is, is pretty accurate. Yeah. It was, um, it was a fight that, I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting to be involved in. Um, I genuinely thought that, uh, I was gonna 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 gonna happen. And thank God that I was wrong. Because if that had happened, it would not be a fight that is now gonna be remembered forever. 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 fighters have to do things that, um, it 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, their, their fights were, um, underwhelming-

    3. SB

      Yeah.

    4. CJ

      ... to say the least.

    5. SB

      Boring.

    6. CJ

      In those three fights, the total amount of punches landed was less than just the fight me, with me and Conor. So the fight with me and Conor, 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 hor- 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, 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? 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 gonna happen. I didn't think it was gonna happen. So seeing that, you know, that, that's not boxing, you know, that is, um, that's love,

  3. 6:24 – 9:54

    Something Didn't Look Quite Right With You That Night

    1. CJ

      you know.

    2. SB

      Going back to the top of that, you said that you were expecting to walk in there and blow Conor 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.

    3. CJ

      Yeah, 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, uh, 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 problems, we all have to fight through these things. That's a part of the sport, which is why I'm not gonna 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.

    4. SB

      Hmm. Illness, injury and mental problems.

    5. CJ

      A mar- uh, uh, uh... Uh, just a few of the things that fighters-

    6. SB

      Did you have any of these?

    7. CJ

      Again, again, I, I, I'm not gonna go into what I was dealing with.

    8. SB

      Was it, uh, it's a personal issue you're dealing with?

    9. CJ

      Um...

    10. SB

      Do you know why I'm asking this question?

    11. CJ

      No.

    12. SB

      I, I'm asking this question because as a fight fan, as a fan of yours, uh, I was watching you as you... as the fight began, and I didn't think you were cr- quite yourself. I've been to your fights. I've been to many of your 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 said 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-

    13. CJ

      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

  4. 9:54 – 12:02

    The Things That Were Against Me on the Night

    1. CJ

      excuses. I, I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm not looking for, uh, a reason for people to say, "Oh, well, you know." Um-

    2. SB

      Well, you won, so-

    3. CJ

      Yeah.

    4. SB

      ... it doesn't matter, you know, it's like-

    5. CJ

      But, but even if I had lost-

    6. SB

      Yeah.

    7. CJ

      ... it's not in me to, "Oh, well, this is why I, you know, I had to deal through this and that," and, uh, people saw so much of what I had to deal with.

    8. SB

      Yeah.

    9. CJ

      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, 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. Around it, forward. Another trap, around 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, and you have to avoid, and you have to make sure that nothing gets into your head, nothing affects what you're gonna 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 Conor Benn, in Matt Trimm, in Eddie Hearn, uh, in Nigel Benn, these are all enemies leading up to

  5. 12:02 – 20:38

    The Night Before the Fight, My Father Finally Opened Up

    1. CJ

      the fight. I had bullets in a... 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. 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- what... You know, how- but how much worse is it gonna 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 gonna come. He called me, he texted me the- the day before the fight, the night before the fight. He said, um, "Call me when you see this." (sniffs) 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 six, eight weeks. "The fight's not gonna 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 gotta rest, I gotta, I gotta focus. A couple of hours go by, maybe 9, 10 o'clock it gets there, and I'm like, "You know what? I've been through so much shit in the last two months, what more could possibly, what more could possibly be thrown at me?" At the end of the day, he's my old man, he's texted me, I'm gonna hear him out. 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, um, 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 has ... 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've got a big day tomorrow, and, um, I wanna be there for you." And 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?" I 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 gonna come. I was always gonna be there for you." And in my mind, I'm thinking, "If I'd just gone to sleep, what happens? What... Would you still be here?" Like, wha- you know, we haven't had any communication. And I know, I kn- and I- 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'd 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.

    2. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    3. CJ

      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. Which would've been a great fight, still, but to have that fantasy of a father and son coming together after s- 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 gonna 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, f- for the first time in my whole career, I'm walking through a crowd and there's no boos. I'm used to walking up into these rings and I'm looking out and people are going, "You, you're gonna get knocked out. Boo." 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 mi- 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, "Go on, Rez. Let's go." And it's like, you know, I'm walking to the ring and am I, my, my face is always cold because I'm about to get in the ring and, and hurt somebody and get hurt, but in my mind and my heart I'm like, "W- 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 gonna be different. This fight is about to be something different. I don't know, I don't know what it's gonna be, but

  6. 20:38 – 29:05

    How Me and My Dad Finally Made Up

    1. CJ

      I'm excited.

    2. SB

      What did you discuss in that hotel room when he arrived in that Uber?

    3. CJ

      He said to me in that hotel room, "What do you think I want from you?" (sighs) 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.

    4. SB

      Years.

    5. CJ

      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 wanna say it. I didn't wanna say it in the fear that he would be like, "Yeah, you gotta give me a million." That would've killed me.

    6. SB

      Really?

    7. CJ

      Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that would've been bad.

    8. SB

      Why?

    9. CJ

      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 it, all of that is irrelevant.

    10. SB

      Yeah.

    11. CJ

      So I was too scared to even talk about, to even mention money because then that would mean that there's n- there's no coming back. You know, if you're, if you're in, if you're, if we were in a room together the night before the biggest fight of my life and you're just saying, "You gotta 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 'cause I was so confused and worried about what was about to happen. I said, "Well, you want a hug? I'll give you a hug." He said, "No. I want nothing. Absolutely nothing." And when he said that, um, you know, my heart, it was just an overwh- uh, an overwhelm of, 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 gonna 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, um... You know, he gave me those few extra percentages to put into that performance. People say, "You were finished by, uh, by the eighth round. You had no... Your, 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 became 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 gonna do the 10 miles, so you got to limp on that treadmill for as long as you have to complete the task. No one's around, no one's watching, but you s- 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 and 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 wanna give up, or you're hurt, or 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 gonna ask yourself that question getting up off the stool in the, in the ninth, in the, in the tenth 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 gonna 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. It's what he's been saying for years. I've gotta show him, I've gotta show the world, and I've gotta 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 f- the... How proud I am of what we achieved in that, in that fight, m- it's priceless. It's something that, you know, on your deathbed in 60 years' time, you're thinking about it and you're, "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.

  7. 29:05 – 37:12

    What Caused the Rift Between You and Your Father?

    1. CJ

    2. SB

      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?

    3. CJ

      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. "That's Chris Eubank's son. That's Chris Eubank's 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 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. I'm 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.

    4. SB

      Did you write him a letter?

    5. CJ

      Yeah. Explaining exactly that. I told him, "I'm gonna 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."

    6. SB

      What did that letter say, that you wrote him? And why didn't you tell him to his face?

    7. CJ

      I needed him to understand and read it, and re-read it, and re-re-read 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, "Oh, I don't like that," or, "I don't agree with that," he'll 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. And 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 gonna 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 (sighs) I th- 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 of the fight, and every day since then, it's been all love between him, 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 stretchers 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's gonna 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 gonna build. We are gonna build, we're gonna build, and I think our relationship is only gonna get stronger and stronger and stronger. I said it before the fight, this fight is either gonna help us build or it's gonna 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

  8. 37:12 – 42:14

    Did Him Calling You a Disgrace Impact Your Mental Health?

    1. CJ

      that.

    2. SB

      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, te- saying to a, a boxing, uh, journalist that the fight shouldn't go ahead and expressing, you know, his concerns about the fight, et cetera. Did it impact your mental health?

    3. CJ

      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 TikTok, it's all over Instagram, you know the headlines, "Chris Eubank J- 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 wellbeing. It's negative and it's deeply personal and you don't want that in the public. It's, it's a, it's, it's one thing dealing with family issues p- you know, between your family, but when everyone else knows what's going on, it's tough, you know? And- and- and it came out of me in that last press conference. Connor Benn 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, gonna be even more pain t- tonight and I'm gonna be even more pain tomorrow morning when I've gotta lose those last few pounds."

    4. SB

      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."

    5. CJ

      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 reha- re- rehydration clause fucking hurts. But guess what? It isn't anything compared to those three things that I listed and all, and the, 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, uh, 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 their dads. Why doesn't my dad take me to school? Why can't I see my daddy? He say he's at the office. Where's the office? Let's go to the office and see my daddy." My own father, he was, he's a disgrace. These, these are p- these are moments... These are not moments of pain, this is, this is pain that lives with you forever, so th- they're incomparable, you know? So when Conor Benn's talking about, "Ah, you know, you should worry about making weight." Don't worry about the weight, mate. The weight's fine. I got (laughs) I got a lot b- worse issues than the weight. The weight's gonna 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's, 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 h- it's a humbling thing to see. And it's one of the reasons why, you know, when I walk into the ring, there, there are people crying. "Wow, his dad came. His dad was there for him after all that. They're together. You know? I'm gonna 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."

  9. 42:14 – 49:11

    Were You Thinking About Your Younger Brother During the Fight?

    1. CJ

    2. SB

      Were you thinking about your younger brother in the build up to the fight and as you walked out and during the fight? Does that come into your mind?

    3. CJ

      There is a picture, there was a picture of him on my shorts, right on the side. He's screaming, "Aah." 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 Rahim. 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.

    4. SB

      Rahim has had a big impact on you.

    5. CJ

      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 a, 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. Rahim comes into my life, uh, and it just... The love I have around him, it makes me want to have my own son. And Rahim 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 Rahim, I thought happiness was, uh, you know, a big winner at 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.

    6. SB

      Is it out in the, the public domain, the circumstances around your brother's death?

    7. CJ

      Uh, I'm, I'm not 100% sure. But, um, he drow- he drowned.

    8. SB

      He drowned?

    9. CJ

      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 sw- he's swimming in the sea. And he, you know, it, it switched him off for a second and in that second he's obviously in the water and he went under. And, um... How insane is that? The guy, you saw him.

    10. SB

      Yeah.

    11. CJ

      Jack. Muscles.

    12. SB

      Incredible.

    13. CJ

      He, he, he makes his own green juices every day.

    14. SB

      Yeah.

    15. CJ

      Uh...

    16. SB

      Alkaline.

    17. CJ

      Alkaline.

    18. SB

      Yeah.

    19. CJ

      You know what I mean?

    20. SB

      That was his nickname for anybody that was new.

    21. CJ

      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 fuck around, waste time. Video games, TV, you know, around people I shouldn't be hanging around with. S- 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 gonna be righteous every day of their lives. But what it, what, what experiencing something like this does is it makes you, uh, 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 gonna make it count?People don't have these things. So you've gotta be respectful, you've gotta be grateful, you've gotta be responsible with what you're doing.

    22. SB

      With all of this on your mind heading into that fight, I remember the last- before the last fight was canceled, you were saying that you'd be at 60% for the fight and you'd go in there and beat him. What percentage were you at? And I'm kind of coming back to this question again, but-

    23. CJ

      (laughs) You're really trying to get that out of me, yeah?

    24. SB

      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, because I'm like, "This ain't how he used to look. This ain't what you looked like in the other fights." In those early rounds, I was like, "He doesn't look like he has the same strength and

  10. 49:11 – 54:01

    Rehydration Restriction

    1. SB

      speed."

    2. CJ

      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.

    3. SB

      Explain this for people who don't know. Explain what weight you're at right n- that you're, you were at before the fight, how much weight you cut, and then what the restrictions say you have to do.

    4. CJ

      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 a rehydration restriction on you," so you can weigh in at the middle weight limit of 160 pounds, but the next, but you can only put on 10 pounds before the fight.

    5. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    6. CJ

      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.

    7. SB

      What weight do you walk around at? Just so I have context.

    8. CJ

      So for, in context, I usually put on maybe 14 or 15 pounds after, after a weigh-in. So I, you know, I'll ... But I could only put on 10 pounds for the fight. If I go over the 10 pounds, I've got to pay a million dollar fine.

    9. SB

      But if I saw you in the street in, like, two months' time, what weight would you be at?

    10. CJ

      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.

    11. SB

      Okay, so 185 pounds. So you've got to lose roughly 25 pounds to get in shape for the fight to make weight.

    12. CJ

      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 sweatsuits and I had to be wrapped in a, in these sh- 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 (laughs) done. Unfortunately, they got me on the- on the middleweight limit. I was 05- 0.05 pounds over the middleweight 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.

    13. SB

      So you check in at 160 pounds the day before, and the r- rehydration clause says, is it 8:00 AM the next day you have to weigh again?

    14. CJ

      Yes. So I- I, well, it was between 8:00 and 12:00.

    15. SB

      Okay, oh, so 8:00 and 12:00-

    16. CJ

      Yeah.

    17. SB

      ... you have to weigh again, and you ha-

    18. CJ

      So I think at 12 o'clock I weighed in at 169.4.

    19. SB

      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.

    20. CJ

      There should have been no rehydration restriction in the first place.

    21. SB

      If you'd said no to it, ch- would the fight have still gone ahead?

    22. CJ

      Yes.

    23. SB

      So why didn't you say no to it?

    24. CJ

      Why do you think?

    25. SB

      They paid you more?

    26. CJ

      Absolutely.

    27. SB

      How ... Did you, did you get paid an eight-figure number for this fight?

    28. CJ

      Yes.

    29. SB

      Okay. Hmm.

    30. CJ

      I was so confident in my ability to beat Conor Benn that I thought, "You know what? If you guys want a weight restriction so badly, I'll let you have it."

  11. 54:01 – 1:00:38

    How Much Did You Get for the Fight?

    1. SB

    2. CJ

      They don't have normal money. So a number that you think is fucking great, to them, it's, "Oh, yeah. No, go. It's just yalla." Yeah, you know.

    3. SB

      (laughs)

    4. CJ

      Um, but again, I said, I'm not greedy. It, it would, you know, they paid me a, 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-assed performances.

    5. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    6. CJ

      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.

    7. SB

      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? 'Cause you, you called Turky- Turky 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?

    8. CJ

      That is... Well, that- that's all, that all comes in the contract, so-

    9. SB

      Okay.

    10. CJ

      ... you know, you have your purse.

    11. SB

      Yeah.

    12. CJ

      And then you will agree on w- if we get to 500,000 buys, then I get a percentage.

    13. SB

      Okay.

    14. CJ

      And then if it hits 600, I get a percentage, you know, so you, you work it, you work it like that. Or just say, "Right, well, we just pay you this lump sum and then we get all of the pay-per-view."

    15. SB

      Yeah.

    16. CJ

      You know, it just depends on how you negotiate.

    17. SB

      And so you, you got part of the performance element as well?

    18. CJ

      I'm not gonna go into details on that specific part of the contract.

    19. SB

      I'm trying to figure... In my head, I'm trying to r- figure out how much that one fight (laughs) made you because... Can you tell me how many multiples it was more than your previous fights? I'm just trying to... That will give me r- sort of an idea of the scale of this in terms of a financial (overlapping speech)

    20. CJ

      I, I... I mean, it's eight, you said eight figures, right?

    21. SB

      Yeah, so-

    22. CJ

      So how much more of a scale do you need? (laughs)

    23. SB

      No, but I mean, I mean, what do you normally get paid? 'cause normally you're getting paid seven figures.

    24. CJ

      Couple, couple, couple million.

    25. SB

      Okay, fine. So this is, like, five times more potentially, minimum.

    26. CJ

      It was, it, yeah, it, it was, um... You know, I don't have to box again.

    27. SB

      Okay.

    28. CJ

      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 gonna... 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 want just... Tomorrow, tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll just, just... Okay, it's okay." That's 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 gonna 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 gonna be tough. Maybe I shouldn't do this." No, you're gonna 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 and that cramp in your leg in that fight. You, you build up a tolerance for pain and suffering.

    29. SB

      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. (laughs) It's always confusing to me 'cause I, like when I feel like that, (laughs) like, I don't have that s- reserve tank, which was something else. Like, I actually I can't swing my arms.

    30. CJ

      There was no reserve tank. The, uh, the-

  12. 1:00:38 – 1:03:25

    What Was Going Through Your Head in the Final Moments

    1. CJ

      gone into war mode. Once you, once you commit as a fighter, once you commit to a certain path you're gonna 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 eye. 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 gonna see how much this kid really wants it, 'cause I want it. I don't know how much he wants it. We're gonna find out. Let's find out. Come forward, you attack. You walk through the punches. It doesn't look good. It 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- 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- the- 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 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 dehy- dehydrated I was, that my body would not let any liquids, any moisture go. It was holding onto everything. There were moments in that hospital where I'm feeling... You know, I, I saw myself, I caught myself in the mirror. I seen my face was all puffed up. This massive cut across my eye. God, my headache is crazy. You know, and I'm feeling sorry for myself. Like, "Fuck, this is fucked up." You

  13. 1:03:25 – 1:06:10

    The Time I Spent in Hospital

    1. CJ

      know, I got my family around me. They're, you know, some of them are crying, and I'm like, "This is really... This is so bad." I'm lying there, I got my mask on, oxygen mask. I can hear everything that's going on. Somebody... We're 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, "Oh man, this is so bad. Get me the morphine, get me the morphine." They can't get the m- 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 gonna 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 myse- for myself at all." Because I, 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 gonna be okay.

    2. SB

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  14. 1:06:10 – 1:07:08

    Ads

    1. SB

      for him? Because before the fight, that was certainly not the case.

    2. CJ

      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

  15. 1:07:08 – 1:09:33

    Have You Got a Newfound Respect for Conor?

    1. CJ

      most fighters, pretty much all fighters do after they fight. And espeically 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, no admittance, no manning 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 gonna 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, Conor, he was doing drugs a couple, a couple years ago. He got caught, but now it's okay, you know, he..."

    2. SB

      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 had, you know, the egg slap, the constantly berating him about this, um, the voluntary anti, uh, the, the doping ban that he had. So, July, I think it was July 2022 or September 2022-

    3. CJ

      Mm-hmm.

    4. SB

      ... Conor Benn failed two voluntary anti-doping tests for clomiphene, a testosterone-boosting substance, and therefore the original fight was canceled. Um, the UK Anti-Doping Association formally suspended Conor for a doping violation. They reinstated Conor, citing after s- citing egg contamination, and then reinstated Conor's suspension following an appeal. Ultimately, in November 2024, Conor 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?

    5. CJ

      Bothered is an understatement.

    6. SB

      Really?

    7. CJ

      Yeah. I don't hold grudges. I am, I am a man that can forgive.

  16. 1:09:33 – 1:14:05

    The Failed Drug Tests

    1. CJ

      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 gonna 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.

    2. SB

      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 ideation after that came out, and there was 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.

    3. CJ

      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, you have 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 and to these sporting events and be able to compete at the highest abilities 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 ha- you fail not one, but two drugs tests, if you're irresponsible enough for that to happen, then you're still a cheat.

    4. SB

      Could you shake his hand now?

    5. CJ

      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 (laughs) likely that we are gonna be fighting again.

    6. SB

      You slapped him with an egg in the press conference beforehand, and you were fined £100,000 for that slap with the egg. Do you regret the egg slap?

    7. CJ

      Worth every penny, my friend.

    8. SB

      Really?

    9. CJ

      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 able to forget what he did. People will always know, "Oh, it's �...I wanna bet yeah over that time when Eubank 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. Kinda just gets swept under, "Oh, don't talk about that, come on, you know, he's doing so well now. Come on, s- he served his time." No, no, no, no, no. This kid is not... He's not getting that. I'm gonna put this egg

  17. 1:14:05 – 1:15:34

    The Egg Slap

    1. CJ

      across his chin. There's gonna be pictures that are gonna 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'd he hit him with an egg?" "Oh, 'cause he was cheating with drugs and he was, there was a contaminated egg or something like that." I want that story to live with him.

    2. SB

      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?

    3. CJ

      Absolutely.

    4. SB

      Really?

    5. CJ

      Yeah. You know, and this, that's, this is business. You, you know, the fight will be bigger.

    6. SB

      Okay, yeah sure.

    7. CJ

      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.

    8. SB

      So if you'd lost this f- fight, you would've got paid less?

    9. CJ

      Absolutely.

    10. SB

      Significantly less?

    11. CJ

      I mean, it would still be incredible numbers, but yes.

    12. SB

      Y- you'd lose millions-

    13. CJ

      Millions.

    14. SB

      ... if you lose the fight?

    15. CJ

      For sure.

    16. SB

      Interesting.

    17. CJ

      But that's, you know, that's not just because we're working with the Saudis. That's boxing in general.

    18. SB

      Yeah.

    19. CJ

      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 gonna give you this.

    20. SB

      So this rematch clause, if you decided to walk away now or Conor decided to walk away now, is there any penalty?

    21. CJ

      (smacks lips) That's a good question. I don't know if there's a penalty.

  18. 1:15:34 – 1:21:54

    The Rematch With Conor

    1. CJ

      May, well, yeah. Um, uh, maybe I could be sued?

    2. SB

      Okay.

    3. CJ

      Yeah. There's, there's probably, you know, all that stuff I have, you know, lawyers that, 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 gonna wanna see a rematch after I do this, what I'm gonna 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 the ami- this, this amount of money, minimum. This is amazing because I'm gonna go out there, I'm gonna blast this guy out and then, you know, and people are probably aren't gonna wanna see a rematch. So, this is amazing that I'm gonna actually get it contracted in now."

    4. SB

      Did you even think that in the day before the fight, when you were struggling? Did you even think you were gonna blow him out, even when you were struggling?

    5. CJ

      That's how much I didn't respect the, um, not even the ability, 'cause I knew he had ability, but the mindset.

    6. SB

      Were there people around you encouraging you or floating the idea of you pulling out of the fight because of your health condition?

    7. CJ

      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. Um, I'm not gonna answer that question either.

    8. SB

      Okay. So does that mean that there is going to be the rematch this year?

    9. CJ

      I mean, contractually, that is what is on paper. Um-

    10. SB

      Turkey's already booked the arena, I hear. He's already booked it in September.

    11. CJ

      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? (laughs) Nobody stops them from doing what they wanna do. So, um, it's, it's very likely that that fight will happen again at some point this year.

    12. SB

      And do you want that fight next?

    13. CJ

      I want what the fans want, you know? If the fans wanna 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 ca- 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? "Well, he never wanted to box before. He used to play football every day. Now he's in the boxing gym. He's sending me pictures of him hitting the bags and stuff." It's amazing.

    14. SB

      Crazy. How much better do you think you could be as a percentage? (laughs)

    15. CJ

      (laughs) Um-

    16. SB

      If ev- you know your dad's back in your corner now. You, you're gonna be a bit more versed in, I guess, preparation and with the weight cut or whatever. You said there's, pointed out a few things you said you would've done differently.

    17. CJ

      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.

    18. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    19. CJ

      I remember the first time, the first time I ever went into a gym, I don't, can't remember if I told you this 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 Conor. 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.

    20. SB

      Yeah.

    21. CJ

      (clicks tongue) 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. So 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-

    22. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    23. CJ

      ... 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.

    24. SB

      Was Conor faster than you were expecting?

    25. CJ

      Yep.

    26. SB

      Was he stronger than you were expecting?

    27. CJ

      Yep. Stronger, faster, tougher. And more m- 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 gonna look for a way out." He's not that guy.

    28. SB

      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 has also learnt from you? Is there not an element of you that goes, "Fucking hell, I've,

  19. 1:21:54 – 1:24:31

    Did Conor Surprise You?

    1. SB

      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 gonna have to go through the cut, weight cut again and the dehydration again and..."

    2. CJ

      It's, um, exciting. You know, I'm sick in that way, in that I love being in these positions where, "What's gonna happen? Am I gonna 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 gonna look at and be like, "Wow, I did that."

    3. SB

      You're sick in the head.

    4. CJ

      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 kinda sick.

    5. SB

      (laughs)

    6. CJ

      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.

    7. SB

      So talk to me about the walkout. The fight was legendary, the buildup was legendary, but the walkout was also legendary.

    8. CJ

      I've, I've, I've seen, I walked, I watched the walkout 50 times.

    9. SB

      Yeah, I watched it like-

    10. CJ

      I watched it s- 100 times.

    11. SB

      ... 15 times. It was iconic.

    12. CJ

      I'm like, "Wow."

    13. SB

      It made me fall in love with the (laughs) the, the Dre song again. (laughs)

    14. CJ

      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-

    15. SB

      You had Simply the Best as well.

    16. CJ

      Yeah, Simply the Best.

    17. SB

      Which I'm guessing was a last-minute addition.

    18. CJ

      Absolutely. We, we were supposed to have an artist. We, we were, we had, um, we were in talks with, uh, Central Cee.

    19. SB

      Oh, really?

    20. CJ

      He was gonna bring me out. 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 gonna do. Um-

    21. SB

      Your, your dad requested a song, didn't he?

    22. CJ

      So that's the... So he said, so he s- he said, "What do you want from me? Or what, what do you think I want?" He said... And I, I said, "I don't know, Dad. Do you want a hug?" And he said, "I don't want anything."

  20. 1:24:31 – 1:29:33

    The Walkout

    1. CJ

      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 walkout." And I'm like, "Oh, here we go." We've already got Simply the Best, we've got a whole orchestra for my song, Dr. Dre. How, how are we gonna 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, preparing for the show and now all of a sudden, you know, you're coming in and you're de- and, and you're saying you want this song. And I'm like, "You know what? You being there is what's important and if you're saying that's what you want, we will find a way to put it in." And I listened to the song and I was like... I didn't get it. I thought, "Oh, it's just this... one of my old man's kooky requests that..." you know. Even on the night, I'm up on the stage, we walk up onto the stage and look out into the crowd. The Simply the Best song stops. And in my head I'm thinking, "Oh, man. It would have been so much better to just keep that going." You know? And then this kind of ethereal tune pops out over the, over the stadium and I'm looking out into the crowd and I'm st- I'm starting to see people well up. I'm like, "Jesus, this guy. How does this guy do..." He always, he always f- you know, even when you think he's crazy or wrong, he's right. And this song was like... it just, it worked perfectly with the whole scene. Me and my old man finally standing together and there's this, like, peaceful song that comes in and we're together and it's like a beautiful moment that I never thought would happen, that wouldn't have happened if it was just Simply the Best, 'cause it's a different, it's a different vibe, you know?

    2. SB

      It took the energy out-

    3. CJ

      It took it down.

    4. SB

      ... and it went boom.

    5. CJ

      And f- and then for everyone to just focus on what was actually happening.

    6. SB

      Mm.

    7. CJ

      So we're there and we're listening to the song and it's, like, it's an amazing, it's an amazing moment, and then it drops into the orchestra.

    8. SB

      Yeah.

    9. CJ

      And it wa- it was just perfect. I was like, "Wow, this is great."

    10. SB

      And then it dropped into the beat as you started walking.

    11. CJ

      Yeah.

    12. SB

      It was iconic.

    13. CJ

      I- you know, and it's like you can't script this type of stuff.

    14. SB

      (laughs)

    15. CJ

      You know? It's like (laughs) , people say, I keep hearing people say, "Oh, it's like WWE." Like, you know, but in real life. And I've never watched WW- so I don't really know what that means, but someone was telling me, you know, "Oh, well, you know, obviously everything's scripted, but they act like it isn't."

    16. SB

      Yeah.

    17. CJ

      So, like, the commentators and, you know, and it's, uh, but it's all... So it was like that, but it was real and it was happening in front of everyone for the first time and everyone was like, "What?" And these were real reactions. It wasn't, it wasn't fake. You know? It's crazy.

    18. SB

      The way your dad, like, stepped out the car and put one leg out and then you hear the commentators, like, scream. It was, yeah, it was-

    19. CJ

      Even that moment. So it's like, you know, if I was on that side of the car, 'cause we're, we're in the, the Rolls-Royce, but what if I was on that side? So then we park up and then it's me that gets out. Obviously, it's, it's still a, a very cool moment, but it's, it's different when it's... that was a good moment for him to s- to, to, to be shown. You know? And then I come in from the side and we hug and we walk in.

    20. SB

      And you couldn't hear that the arena had erupted?

    21. CJ

      No, I didn't know. I, I didn't know until, uh, until people were talking about it.

    22. SB

      Billie Joe, he tried to get into your dressing room to do your hand wraps, caused a scene outside with our friend Nappa, um, who I've known a long, long time. Um, Billie Joe, you had a fight with him in the past, um, contentious fight. He got the decision in that fight, but it was a contentious fight. How do you feel about Billie Joe?

    23. CJ

      (sighs) There's very few people in the sport, in the planet really, that I genuinely dislike. He is one of those people.

    24. SB

      Who do you dislike more? Conor Benn or Billie Joe?

    25. CJ

      Well, Billie Joe's a drug cheat too. So, Billie Joe. Yeah, because he, not only is he a drug cheat but he is actually a real scummy human being. You know? And I don't talk about anybody like this, so if I'm saying it about him, there's a reason. He is a bad, bad person. A

  21. 1:29:33 – 1:31:44

    Billy Joe Saunders

    1. CJ

      terrible advocate for the sport. Just a, just a real low-life human being. Um, and I don't say that about any of the guys I've fought. I'm not even saying that about Conor. Even though he cheated, he's still somebody that, um, you know, I can, I can see some of the things he does and I can see why people will like him. There's nothing to like about Billie Joe Saunders. And for that reason, I would love to get my hands on him, because he does have a win over me that I don't believe he deserves, that many people say that he doesn't deserve. A lot of people say I won the fight. And it's kind of just something that's been hanging over me for so long, and I just know that I can beat him and I just know how much of an enjoyment it would be for me to set that record straight. So, that's another fight that's, uh, a possibility in the future.

    2. SB

      So if you could draw th- your future, if you could plot your next three fights, and you, you had to decide right now, what would those next three fights be? In a perfect world.

    3. CJ

      I feel like the demand for this Conor-Benn fight is at an all-time high right now. So, I feel like that would be the fight to make next.... then you have Canelo. That is a fight that I've been wanting for, you know, for years. And, uh, I would love to share the ring with that man. And then we could throw saunas in at the end of it, you know?

    4. SB

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  22. 1:31:44 – 1:34:32

    Who Would Your Next 3 Fights Be?

    1. SB

      the natural strength and mobility in our feet, and this is leading to issues like back pain and knee pain. I'd already purchased a pair of Vivobarefoot shoes, so I showed them to Daniel Lieberman, and he told me that they were exactly the type of shoe that would help me restore natural foot movement and rebuild my strength. But I think it was plantar fasciitis that I had, where suddenly my feet started hurting all the time. And after that, I decided to start strengthening my own foot by using the Vivobarefoots. And research from Liverpool University has backed this up. They've shown that wearing Vivobarefoot shoes for six months can increase foot strength by up to 60%. Visit vivobarefoot.com/doac and use code Diary20 from my sponsor for 20% off. A strong body starts with strong feet. This has never been done before, a newsletter that is ran by 100 of the world's top CEOs. All the time people say to me, they say, "Can you mentor me? Can you get this person to mentor me? How do I find a mentor?" So here is what we're gonna do. You're gonna send me a question, and the most popular question you send me, I'm gonna text it to 100 CEOs, some of which are the top CEOs in the world running $100 billion companies. And then I'm gonna reply to you via email with how they answered that question. You might say, "How do you hold onto a relationship when you're building a startup? What is the most important thing if I've got an idea and don't know where to start?" We email it to the CEOs, they email back, we take the five, six top best answers, we email it to you. I was nervous, because I thought the marketing might not match the reality. But then I, I saw what the founders were r- replying with, and their willingness to reply, and I thought, "Actually, this is really good." And all you've got to do is sign up, completely free. I have to play you this video, which has gone viral. You know this video.

    2. CS

      Let me ask you, I mean, I often tell Christopher that, um, boxing is a business that, um, you never see middle class-

    3. CJ

      Mm-hmm.

    4. CS

      ... or upper class youngsters become champion, because you need hunger. You need to be hungry. Um, and the fact that you've kind of been brought up within these four walls here, and you've been protected, I don't think you're gonna be hard enough.

    5. NA

      I just wanna try it. I just wanna see what it's about. I mean, if he can, if Maya can do it, why can't I do it?

    6. CS

      That's the argument. I've-

    7. NA

      That's what ... so many people come to understand. You take a beating, is this what it's about? Well, not for me. And I hope th- I hope you're not stubborn and kind of, uh-

    8. CS

      That's what you are.

    9. ... all have a-

    10. You're stubborn and bullheaded.

    11. Yeah.

    12. That's why he's made it.

    13. Yeah, but I don't want him to be like me.

    14. So you're saying he... No, you don't want him to be stubborn and bullheaded.

    15. Th- th- that's the, yeah, but, look, listen, you know-

    16. Enlighten... so you, you might have to be.

    17. ... for the guys who don't make it, for the guys, for the guys who don't make it in boxing, you know, it's tragic. It's a tragic business to be in.

    18. CJ

      I know.

    19. CS

      But you're convinced he's not gonna make it, just let him go until he

  23. 1:34:32 – 1:40:44

    You Before Starting Boxing

    1. CS

      wears himself out of it, and he's not bothered anymore.

    2. Yeah, and by then, all those good-looking features would have gone. You know what they say? Let me tell you what, trust me. Don't... Christopher, just leave it alone. And do you know what-

    3. CJ

      Christopher, remember what I said, right? Okay, am I, am I bad-looking?

    4. NA

      Mm-hmm.

    5. CS

      Eh.

    6. CJ

      Okay. Why are you putting that into the kid's head?

    7. CS

      Uh, because I don't want him to fight. I don't want him to fight. Everyone gets hurt, everyone gets disfigured, everybody get used.

    8. CJ

      What you're saying is irrelevant at this time.

    9. CS

      It's irrelevant?

    10. CJ

      Yeah.

    11. CS

      Why?

    12. Because it may not happen. It's like worrying about what might not happen.

    13. CJ

      You... Uh, let me, let me just bring this point to you for a minute. I would never want, when I have kids, for Maya's, uh, daughter to be in a car crash. So, what do I do?

    14. CS

      Dad-

    15. CJ

      I say, "I'm not buying you a car and you can't drive." Is that the right thing to do?

    16. NA

      Well, I just wanna try it.

    17. CS

      It's, it's a really... Okay, okay. I will, I will, um, I'll let you try. All you've got to do is tell me the word. If you tell me, I'll help you. Okay?

    18. NA

      Dad, I've already said yes. Stop saying you're saying yes and no. I want to do it.

    19. CS

      You want to do it?

    20. NA

      Yeah.

    21. CS

      Okay. Now, there's one to watch. You'll be one to watch. Am I so hopeless well in boxing?

    22. SB

      What's going on there in that video that I just played?

    23. CJ

      Fear. That's a father who is, is thinking about all the things he's gone through and fearing that his son will walk into that, you know, into that industry, walk down that path and have to go through all those things that he went through. That he worked so hard to kind of keep his family away from.

    24. SB

      So you've got Lennox Lewis siding with you. And that's your mother?

    25. CJ

      Yep.

    26. SB

      And she's also trying to persuade him to let you have a shot at boxing. When you watch that video now after everything that happened with the fight we just all watched, where there was almost, what, 70,000 people in an arena, people watching all over the world. It's been this global phenomenon, not just in the UK, but I was in America in New York this weekend, and it's, people are talking about it there. How does it feel to look back at that video?

    27. CJ

      Uh, scary, man. It's scary. I mean, everything he's saying is right. He's completely right, you know. Boxing is a tragic sport for the people who are making it get disfigured and used. Um, you know, disfigured, I've been used plenty of times. It's scary to...To think about how far we've come from that moment in time. Um, all the things I've gone through, the things I've done. And, you know, he has, he had every right to feel the way he did because champions, hard men, don't come from those backgrounds that you saw. That, that was filmed in a multimillion-pound house. You know, I- I went to private school the next day after that interview. Kids that live that life don't accomplish anything in such a barbaric sport because there's just too much pain and suffering you have to go through, and there's too many times where naturally you'll look for ways out. Now, the kids that come from broken homes, poverty and, you know, nothing, they don't have any doo- other doors to open and walk through. So when they go to the gym and when they go into these fights, "If I don't get through this door, I don't eat. You know, I can't pay the rent. I can't feed my family." For me, when I'm looking at that door that I have to go through, whether it's in a gym or in a fight, I know that if I don't make it through that door, there's a door there and a door there and a door there and a door there. And if I'm experiencing too much pain to get to that doorknob to open it, I can just step back. "You know what? All right. Let's go over here." Football, business, acting. I could do whatever I wanted with the position I was in as a kid. I still wanted to walk through that horrible, painful, nasty boxing door and open that door, and you walk through the door and you get punched in the stomach, and you go through that, and then you gotta walk through the other door and you get cut above your eye, and just keep walking, keep walking, keep walking, keep walking. And there's all these other doors. "Hey, come, come, come, come, come, come. We'll just, just, just take the easy route. Take the easy route." "No. I'm staying here." So it was so much harder for me to do what I was doing, because there was so many other choices. And my father thought that as soon as I reached that first door, I'd be like, "You know what? Nah." He said it. "I'm not gonna be hard enough." And nine times out of ten, kids are not hard enough in that, in that position. But I was, I was hell-bent on proving him wrong and proving, and proving myself right. I knew what I had in me. I felt what I had in me anyway. I didn't know. You never know until you're, you're in those positions. But I just, the strength and the, you know, that, that feeling inside of me was so, it was so visceral. I was like, "There's no way I can't do this." Like, "If I just, if I put

  24. 1:40:44 – 1:44:03

    Your Relationship With Frank Smith

    1. CJ

      everything into this, how can I fail?"

Episode duration: 1:48:27

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