Chris Eubank Jr once sparred with Carl Froch, with ‘The Cobra’ openly discussing the rounds afterwards.
Froch was towards the end of his career when he got in the ring with a young Eubank Jr in 2014. He was already a two-time world champion at that point while Eubank Jr was just 24 and was very much in the early stages of his career.
Since then, Froch has retired and Eubank has completed at both middle and super-middleweight, beating the likes of James DeGale and Marcus Morrison but losing to former Froch rival George Groves in his only major world title fight.
In 2023 he suffered his first stoppage loss to Liam Smith, but reversed that result in the rematch with an early finish of his own. He made it two in a row by beating Kamil Szeremeta last year.
Eubank is now just over a week away from his showdown with Conor Benn on April 26 and goes into it as the favourite given that he is the more experienced and naturally bigger man. Benn has questioned both the desire and skill of his opponent ahead of the grudge match.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, Froch gave the Brighton man credit for being polite and respectful and was full of praise for the way he approached the sparring 11 years ago.
“He was a very tough kid, believes in himself, no fear. He’s decent, a good fighter. I could tell that he wasn’t a polished professional at that stage, because he hadn’t had a big amateur career. Some of the stuff he was doing was quite crude, but his toughness and his fitness and work-rate were really good. He gave me really good sparring. He was smaller than me and lighter, but he soaked it up, he punched back, he was confident. He always had a go.
“Very impressed with him. I was landing flush shots, but I was getting hit with flush shots as well. He’s quick and he’s tough, and he keeps coming forward. I’ve been in there with top fighters, so when you spar someone, you know. I thought, ‘He could be good Eubank Jr.’”
