IF BOXING truly is the loneliest sport then Chris Eubank Jr must be top of the lonely hearts list.
The relationship between fighter and trainer is a sacred one, with celebrated teams such as Muhammad Ali-Angelo Dundee, Frank Bruno-George Francis – even the fictional Rocky and Mickey Goldmill – stirring memories.
But young Eubank – who fights George Groves on Saturday night for a place in the super-middleweight World Boxing Super Series final and the WBA world title – says he has no one in his corner.
Veteran trainer Ronnie Davis, 72, runs their Brighton base but admits the physical demands of a full-time trainer are beyond him – and Eubank Sr is not exactly tracksuit and spit-bucket material.
Unlike Groves – who was guided by the Dale ABC, then Adam Booth and now Shane McGuigan – Eubank Jr does all his own training and holds both the carrot and the stick.
The set-up should not work but since a defeat to Billy Joe Saunders in 2014, he has built up a fearsome reputation and impressive record and now challenges for a world crown.
Eubank told SunSport: “There is no ‘my trainer did not prepare me’, I take responsibility for my actions. I do not leave it to anyone but myself. George seems to have to trust his fitness and preparation to another man.
“Maybe he is saying these things so that when he does lose he will have someone to blame, aside from himself. And that is unacceptable in my opinion.
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“I believe every man – especially every fighter – should be doing things off their own back and not relying on other people to get them to where they need to get to.”
Eubank Sr sat at the back of the room for the final press conference on Valentine’s Day and the 28-year-old insists his dad is not always by his side.
A brutal apprenticeship as a raw teenager in Las Vegas helped shape Eubank’s style but back in the UK he is the master of his own domain.
And he insists – when his arm is raised on Saturday night that – he will be a self-made man stepping out of his father’s shadow.
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He said: “I have the guidance of my father my entire career but he has not necessarily been training me – he has not been in the gym with me my whole career.
“On and off he is around but generally I have been left to my own devices.
“Early on I trained under Mike McCallum and I have trained under Floyd Mayweather Sr.
“But on a day-to-day basis it is me calling the shots, scheduling my own training and practising what I believe I need to work on.
“No one pushes me or tells me what to do. I am my own man.”
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