'People think we're all lovey again, but it's not there yet': Inside the Eubanks' reconciliation, why Jr isn't looking for his dad's respect and the hardest part of their relationship

For years, they were two men bound by name but divided by silence.

Chris Eubank Jr and Chris Eubank Sr, once the most recognisable father-and-son duo in British boxing, had grown apart both personally and professionally. Their split had become as public as their partnership once was, and reconciliation seemed a distant prospect. 

The tension began in 2019, when Jr took control of his career, sending his father a letter to explain that he would be reducing Sr's role as his trainer.

The rift widened during the Benn fight, with Sr publicly condemning the bout, calling it 'attempted murder' because of the brutal weight cut, and accusing his son of being a 'disgrace' after the infamous egg-slap incident. Sr later aligned himself with pundits who branded Jr a 'charlatan,' making the split intensely personal. 

Jr reflected on the emotional distance with Daily Mail Sport prior to the first Benn fight saying: 'At the moment, he can't separate business and boxing from being my dad. I said to him, "I don't need advice, a coach, or a mentor. I just need a dad". But he can't do that. He's still figuring that dynamic out, so I've just got to let him go, let him do his thing. I think it will take me retiring for us to be able to just be father and son.' 

Then, on the eve of the biggest fight of Jr's career against Conor Benn, everything changed. A text message. A late-night phone call. And a quiet meeting in a London hotel room that led to one of the sport's most emotional reunions. The moment father and son stepped out of the car together at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on fight night.

Daily Mail Sport visited Eubank Jr in camp ahead of his highly anticipated rematch with Benn to see where that relationship stands now and how both men have begun to rebuild something deeper than boxing.

'It's not been easy. It's not an overnight thing,' Eubank Jr told us. 'People might think, well, he came to the fight and now they're all lovey again. No, it's not that. 

'We are still working to try and get back to how things were many, many years ago when we didn't have these issues. But I'm confident that we'll get there eventually. He will be at my next fight though, supporting me, and that's very important to me.' 

That reconnection has already started to spill into life outside the ring. Just weeks after their reunion, father and son spent Jr's birthday together, for the first time in six years.

For Eubank Jr, it was more than just a celebration; it was a symbol of progress. 

'It meant a lot,' he said. 'It shows the improvement and the building that we are doing as a family. Sitting down, sharing a meal, talking about old times. It's nice. You know, it's never too late for all the people watching out there. 

'If you've had your differences, if you've fallen out with your family or your loved ones, it doesn't matter how bleak things may look. There's always a chance to reconcile and unite, and that's what we're doing.'

But, that boundary between family and profession is one Eubank Jr has fought hard to establish and one he has no intention of blurring again. After a lifetime of being coached, guided and often defined by his father, he's determined to keep a clear line in the sand. 

When asked whether the pair had sat down together to review the first Benn fight and discuss his game plan ahead of the rematch, Eubank Jr smiled. 

'We've not spoken too much about the tactics of the fight,' he said. 'He's not involved in my training anymore and won't be involved in my training for the rematch. But the father and son relationship is obviously still there, and we're still trying to build it. For many, many years, it was non-existent, but it's there now and it's important to keep those roles defined.'

He knows that separation hasn't been easy for his father, but it's a step he feels was essential. 'That's what I've wanted for many years, to separate the sport from the father and son relationship,' he explained. 

'It's been very hard for him, but it's one of those things that has to be done. I've done so much now on my own accord, it's never going to revert back to the days when I was like, "What do I do, dad? How shall I fight? What should I say? What shall I do with the money?" Those days are gone.

'Now it's just about entrusting in each other's friendship and love. Building that relationship outside of the sport, outside of the money, outside of the business. And that's something we're getting to.'

Still, the fighter in his father never quite switches off. During that first Benn fight, as Jr dug into the later rounds, Eubank Sr couldn't help himself. The old instincts kicked in. He drifted toward his son's corner in the ninth, offering words of advice to his coaching staff. 

'He was telling me to use my jab,' Jr smiled. 'At that moment in time, I was in a state of war, so the jab wasn't really my go-to move after the ninth round, as you guys saw. 

'But my old man is old school. It doesn't matter how tired you are or how deep you are, he still wants you to keep to those fundamentals. And he wasn't wrong. 

'But it was a frenzied fight, a dog fight. The jab worked well early, but as the fight went on, it became a different animal. We'll try and implement it a little bit more in the next one, we'll see.' 

For Eubank Jr, the reunion was never about earning validation from his father. That was something the younger version of himself once craved. The boy seen years ago in that famous clip, pleading in the kitchen with Lennox Lewis to convince his dad to let him box. That dynamic, he says now, has long since changed. 

'I hope not,' he said when asked if the Benn fight finally earned his father's respect. 

'I've done too many other things in my life and career to only be respected after one fight at 36 years old. It was a gruelling fight, but I've been in those situations before. I'm not looking for my father's respect anymore. That was the young Chris Eubank Jr.

'I know I've had his respect. It's not something I'm trying to obtain anymore. It's not about him. It's not about what he thinks about me.

'I have to be comfortable in who I am as a man, and I've found that the most comfort a man can get is by being at peace with what he's doing and not worrying about what anybody else thinks - whether it's your father, your friends, the public, or the fans.

'As long as you can sleep at night knowing you've done what you think was right, that you did your best and didn't cut any corners - that's what's most important. Not earning the respect of other people.

'And if you live like that, you will naturally gain the respect of people. You don't have to go out there searching for it, it will come to you. That's what I've learned.'