ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
Former middleweight champion Chris Eubank has led tributes to his son Sebastian Eubank, who has been found dead in Dubai days before his 30th birthday.
In a statement, Chris Eubank said the third oldest of his five children had died on Friday. He leaves behind his wife, Salma, and son Raheem, who was born a month ago.
Sebastian, 29, was born in Hove and was also a boxer. He had been living in Dubai in recent years, “where he had a wide circle of friends and was a leader in the adoption of a healthy lifestyle and of alternative therapies”, Eubank, 54, said. The Sun reported he had drowned.
Boxing using the name Alka Lion, he made his fighting debut in February 2018, before an MMA debut last year.
Eubank, who held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, said his son was a “deep thinker who liked to challenge accepted wisdom” as well as a professional boxer and personal trainer.
“Never did I ever imagine I would write these words or experience the feeling I now have at the loss of my son,” the statement said.
Chris Eubank with sons Sebastian Eubank (left) and Chris Eubank Junior (right) in 2012. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA
Sebastian’s mother, Karron Meadows, asked people to respect the whole family’s “grief and privacy while we try to comprehend our loss”.
His older brother, Chris Eubank Jr, who is also a professional boxer, said on Twitter: “Rest easy little brother, I love you and you will be missed always.”
My brother Sebastian Eubank was a special man… a righteous man… who always put others before himself. A man of many talents, boxing, MMA, poetry, music, coaching, cooking the list goes on but the most important thing to him was helping others less fortunate than himself. pic.twitter.com/ZOoiBDzwcX
— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) July 10, 2021
“My brother Sebastian Eubank was a special man … a righteous man … who always put others before himself,” he wrote in a later post with a photo showing the two of them as young children. A man of many talents, boxing, MMA, poetry, music, coaching, cooking, the list goes on but the most important thing to him was helping others less fortunate than himself.”
Several other influential figures in the boxing world also paid tribute, with heavyweight boxer Joe Joyce describing the news of his death as “devastating”. He wrote: “Sending condolences to his family! You will be missed, rest in power brother!”
Former world boxing champion Joe Calzaghe said: “Really saddened to hear the news of the passing of Seb Eubank. Thoughts and prayers to Chris and family.”
