Chris Eubank Jr ‘lost a part of himself’ after brother’s heart attack at sea

Boxing star Chris Eubank Jr has said he 'lost a part of himself' after his younger brother died while swimming in 2021.

Sebastian – who was 29 and living in Dubai at the time of his death – was a boxing prospect himself, leaving behind a wife and infant son. Widow Salma Abdelati said at the time of the tragedy that her partner suffered a 'massive heart attack' and drowned, devastating his former two-weight world champion father, Chris Eubank Sr.

Older brother Eubank Jr has addressed how the tragedy affected him in the build-up to Saturday's rematch against Liam Smith. And the 33-year-old didn't hold back when detailing the extent of the trauma he faced, admitting he was forever changed by the news.

“You lose a part of yourself when someone that close to you passes, you’re never the same," said Eubank Jr, speaking on The Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet. "You have to deal with things internally that you never dreamed you would have to do, and you learn about yourself, you can’t be the same.

READ MORE: ‘I’m Chris Eubank’s son – he would punish me with belts and canes when I was a kid'

“Two and a half years ago before my brother passed, I never thought about death, I’m going to live until 150, we’re all going to die old in our beds and in our sleep. It didn’t register, death, what’s that?

"Now, it’s so real, it makes you appreciate life so much more, it makes you appreciate your family and the people around you so much more because you know in a split second they can be gone forever, and you can never get that back. So yeah, it changes you for sure and now it’s all about making him proud."

'Next Gen' saw his six-win streak come to an end in January when he suffered a fourth-round TKO defeat to Smith in Manchester. Originally scheduled for June and then July, the pair will finally rematch at the AO Arena on Saturday in a potential make-or-break fixture for Eubank.

The former IBO super-middleweight champion has never suffered successive defeats, and his comeback prospects are dimmer given he'll turn 34 later in September. Redemption against 'Beefy' may yet open the possibility for one last run at a title, whereas a second defeat of 2023 would spell the end of anymore belt ambitions.

Eubank Jr went on to say the memory of his late brother is never far away, and he's frequently reminded to be grateful for the years they had together.

“I think about him every day, every single day he’ll pop into my head and I’ll say ‘I love you brother’. He had 11 11 tattooed onto his chest, he said it was something he used to see all of the time and I was like – ‘what’s he talking about, this is weird’ – and now I see it all the time, on my phone it’ll be a 11:11 or there will be 11 somewhere, I’ll say – ‘I love you brother’ – I know he’s watching.”

And in a way, Eubank Jr is convinced his late sibling is still present in the material world, living on through son Raheem, who was born just a few weeks prior to his death. Abdelati has spoken in the past of her gratitude that Sebastian at least had that much time with his new-born child.

Eubank Jr has shared photos of him embracing his nephew, commenting the kid 'looks just like his uncle. . .just a little less cute'. More than just resembling his late dad, however, the 32-3 fighter hinted at a deeper connection between the two.

KSI takes on Tommy Fury at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday, October 14th as he hopes to cause an upset. Logan Paul will also be fighting at the event in front of what is expected to be a sell-out crowd.

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“Being around Raheem [Eubank, Chris’s nephew], I mean I thank God every day that Sebastian had him before he passed," said Eubank Jr. "The pain is always there, but it goes away when you’re with him because it’s like you’re with Seb. He looks like him, and he is him.

“You’re at peace knowing that Seb is still with us through his son. I didn’t really think about [having] kids for a long time, but since spending all the time I have with Raheem, I want to give him a brother. I want him to have the relationship like I had with Seb, coming up together – that would make me very happy. That’s one of the reasons why I’m thinking about having kids in the not-too-distant future.”

That decision raises conundrums of its own for Eubank Jr, who also went into detail about the physical abuse and discipline he received from his father in the form of belts and canes. But the middleweight talent holds no regrets over his upbringing – which he insists did "absolutely not" constitute abuse – and assured that strict approach 'made him who he is today'.

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