CHRIS EUBANK Junior has revealed he watched his father blow a fortune with ‘crazy’ spending and vowed never to make the same mistakes.

Boxing legend Chris Eubank senior amassed millions in his career with mega fights against Nigel Benn and Michael Watson as he became a world champion at middle and super-middleweight.

But seven years after he retired Eubank Sr, was declared bankrupt owing £1.3m in taxes.

Eubank Jr, 29, fights James DeGale on Saturday at the O2 Arena in a grudge match which could net the Brighton fighter a share of a £2 million-plus purse but he insists that he will not squander his cash as his father’s money troubles left an indelible mark on him.

Although regarded by many as being flash, Eubank Jr says what happened to his father “100%” shaped his attitude towards money.

He revealed: “Everyone knows my dad went bankrupt.

“You have to learn from other people’s mistakes, especially people close to you.

“I saw how that affected him, saw the things he had to do, and what he had to put up with at that stage of his life, and that was absolutely the last thing that I wanted to happen to me in my career.

“It’s all about being responsible.

“Yes, enjoy your life, work hard and have your fun but all in moderation. Don’t go crazy.

“My dad did go crazy at certain times in his life with his spending.

“He had a great life, and still has a great life, but you have got to be smart with your money.”

The statement may jar with many after Eubank Jr recently took delivery of a £220,000 McLaren supercar.

But he believes he has put down solid financial foundations that will look after him long after he is out of the game having learnt from his dad’s mistakes and also from having a background which took in a public school education at Brighton College. Eubank Jr believes that many fighters get into trouble because they just do not know how to handle sudden riches.

He said: “That’s the sad, cold truth about this sport - a lot of fighters are not educated or they are just ill advised.

“They don’t have people watching over what they are doing or over their spending habits and they will blow their purses quickly.

“Whether that’s on parties, girls, drinking, gambling – there are so many ways that fighters, ones I know personally, have thrown money away.”

Eubank Jr reckons elite boxers need financial guidance just like in top-flight football.

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He added: “In football now they have dedicated people to help those guys with the money they have.

“We should do the same with boxers – especially for boxers because we’re impulsive people, we have to be to fight.

“Also, especially for boxers because most of us come from nothing. I am not in that category but most successful fighters, they come from poverty or a very hard background.

“So when they do make money it’s like, ‘oh wow, I guess I have just got to go and spend it now’ because that’s what people do with money right.

“They don’t think that you’re going to retire at 33, 34 or 35 and then what are you going to do?

“If you lose all the money now, you’re going to have to do a nine to five job when you retire.”