Chris Eubank Jr explains 'towel' tweet after Kell Brook corner ended Gennady Golovkin bout
Tuesday 13 September 2016 08:37, UK
Chris Eubank Jr says he meant no disrespect to Kell Brook when he questioned the decision to pull him out of his clash with Gennady Golovkin in the fifth round.
Brook's trainer Dominic Ingle threw in the towel after WBA 'Super', IBF and WBC middleweight champion Golovkin caught his fighter with a series of unanswered blows.
Eubank challenged Golovkin straight after his win at the O2, writing on Twitter: "If you want a fight with a real British Middleweight...come get some. My corner don't own towels."
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) is set to discuss Eubank Jr's comment on Wednesday, with sanctions possible, but the 26-year-old told Sky Sports he meant nothing untoward.
"It wasn't meant as any disrespect to anybody, it's just the fact of how I have been brought up as a fighter to hold myself in the ring. You don't look to try and end the fight - the only person who is supposed to be stopping the fight is the referee," he said.
"The corner is there to help you clean your cuts up and put your Vaseline on, not to throw in the towel. If the going gets tough, you stay in there and take your beating like a man. That's what we sign up for, and that's all I meant when I said my corner don't throw in towels.
"They would never do that for me, they would let me try and win, try and get out of a sticky situation. Just because you are getting hurt doesn't mean you can't come back and win."
That was echoed by his father Chris Sr, who added: "That's what we are in this for - to persevere, that's the key thing.
"You cannot expect to get anywhere near greatness if you are not prepared to accept damage. Hurt is good, damage is good and I use that as a term within the 'inner circle'. We have to be that way.
"We cannot be like 'Oh I am getting hurt so I am going to quit'. You can't make greatness like that. That is the way they were speaking beforehand. The language of a warrior is 'I am going to go all the way'."
Eubank Jr remains keen to fight Golovkin after previous talks collapsed, although he will first face Tommy Langford in defence of his British middleweight title in Cardiff on October 22.
He added: "I've been gunning for this fight for a long time - I keep saying it and I am going to keep saying it until I am in the ring with him. I want his belts and I'm coming for them, nothing is going to stop me.
"This is my dream and I have been working for it my entire career, to become middleweight champion. Everyone thinks this guy is untouchable, unbeatable, he's just not."
