Harlem Eubank: Putting Boxing Back on the Map in Brighton
Key Highlights :
Brighton super-lightweight Harlem Eubank will attempt to put boxing back on the map in the city when he steps out at the Brighton Centre on Friday night for his maiden fight at the venue. Eubank, the nephew of former two-division world champion Chris Eubank Sr, will be fighting for the WBO Global belt against German super-lightweight Timo Schwarzkopf.
Friday night’s fight marks the biggest night of boxing in Brighton since Chris Eubank Sr defended his WBO middleweight title against Dan Sherry at the same venue in 1991. However, the Eubank family has been in a state of grief in recent years. In 2021, Chris’s son Sebastian tragically passed away after a heart attack, and at the beginning of Harlem’s fight camp in September, his father Simon died after a five year battle with dementia.
“Dad wasn’t able to express himself,” Harlem Eubank told the PA news agency. “When you know someone, how active that someone is, how they want to be outside cycling or running, it feels like their spirit is almost trapped in a body that is kind of unusable. It was difficult to see him degrade and deteriorate over the years, especially in the last few years when it became more rapid.”
The tragedy has driven Eubank to do his family proud and to lead by example. “I am carrying a lot on my shoulders and that inspires me to work hard every day. To go in there and give the best account of myself. It gives me inner strength and inner drive,” he said.
Eubank will be joined by his uncle Chris Sr in his corner as he takes on Schwarzkopf, and Chris Sr has been gushing in his praise for the 30-year-old. “He has been to the top of the mountain and it is refreshing that he speaks so highly of me,” Harlem Eubank added. “It is beautiful to have him by my side now going into this next chapter of my career. It feels like this is a big, pivotal moment in my career. A moment that pushes me into a position to big fights domestically and globally.”
Eubank’s fight on Friday night is an opportunity to put boxing back on the map in Brighton and to emulate the success of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, who have risen from the Withdean Stadium to the Amex Stadium in the Premier League. “People are excited about it and I feel these type of boxing nights are needed in Brighton to put boxing back on the map in the city,” Eubank said. “Albion, the football club, are leading the way but I feel like we have a space to shine a light on boxing in Brighton now too.”
Harlem Eubank is determined to make his family proud and to make his city proud on Friday night. He is determined to put boxing back on the map in Brighton and to become a world champion.
