Chris Eubank’s Lottery Story an Early Runner for DHOTYA 2019

Jamie Casey

February 4th, 2019

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It seems somewhat plausible considering it happened around 35 years ago, but social media users have branded ex-professional boxer Chris Eubank Sr an ‘insane’ liar following his claim to have been cheated out of a big lottery win as an 18-year-old.

The former two-weight world champion was replying to a tweet which compared his 1990 WBO middleweight title win over Nigel Benn to a “homeless man winning the lottery” when he revealed a pivotal moment in his young life.

“I won the lottery in 1984 at 18 in NYC, I got five of six numbers and should have won over $100 thousand,” he wrote.

“The guy in the grocery said it’s five numbers and the payout is $25 and naive me took it.

“If he didn’t cheat me I would have lost my focus to make champion six years later. God is good.”

The responses were overwhelmingly unfavourable and it didn’t take long for popular Twitter profile @_DHOTYA – which stands for Didn’t Happen Of The Year Awards – to get involved.

The social media profile, which has over 126,000 followers, enjoyed a fruitful 2018 by highlighting elaborate stories posted online, staging a vote last December for followers to pick the tallest tale of the year, which was won by ‘Supermarche’.

Bookmakers BetVictor even took bets on the end result and are likely to do so again at the end of 2019, with Eubank among the early frontrunners.

The backlash to his story took poor Eubank by surprise, and he remains baffled by the public’s refusal to believe it happened.

“I really cannot see what is so difficult to believe about my lottery true story,” he Tweeted.

“If you won’t believe the story, look at the wisdom; when you don’t get what you want, it is sometimes for your own good.”

Despite his pedigree as one of Britain’s finest ever boxers, the London-born 52-year-old – who spent a portion of his teens growing up in New York where he claims to have ‘won’ the lottery – Eubank is a divisive character in his homeland due to his flamboyant persona.

His popularity peaked in the 1990s thanks to a string of blockbuster fights with compatriots Benn and Michael Watson, as well as Irishman Steve Collins and latterly Welshman Joe Calzaghe.