Dubai Question: Who did WBC Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko recently beat to retain his title?

"I've no idea," former Middleweight and Super Middleweight champion Chris Eubank admitted to XPRESS during a recent visit to Dubai.

To be fair to the 43-year-old Briton, it's not his fault. The name Albert Sosnowski wouldn't ring a bell to even the most avid of boxing followers and Eubank considers himself one.

"Well... therein lies the problem with boxing today. You don't have characters. The last of the lot was Mike Tyson," Eubank said. He explained: "You see, it's like this. When we stepped into the ring, we put on a mask and transformed ourselves into another character.

"So, it was ‘Iron' Mike Tyson and in my case, I was ‘Simply The Best'. You could see so much aggression in the ring. The fighters these days are so sedate. There's hardly any aura about them."

Ironically, it was an incident in 1991 that transformed Eubank himself from a ruthless boxer to a man who critics said lacked the killer instinct. "I don't have nightmares about that," he said, referring to a championship fight against fellow Briton Michael Watson, where, after being down and almost counted out in round 10, he floored his opponent and sent him into a coma. Eubank didn't knock out any of his opponents subsequently, instead trying to win on points.

"For two years after that incident, I looked at it emotionally. Then I told myself, ‘Come on this is your greatest performance coming back from being alomost down and out to win'. I realised, in order to be a boxer, you have to be ruthless," he said.

Eubank's out-of-the-ring persona belies his image inside it. "I have always been hungry for respect and it's not just for what you do inside the ring. Outside the ring, I am charming and kind and I try to do the right things. I want to be a beacon, a role model," he said.

And a role model he is to his son Chris Eubank Jr, 20, who plans to follow in his father's illustrious footsteps. "My son has chosen a tough road. He is in the right hands, being trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr and, mark my words, he's going to be the new Screen of Terror.

"But it's what he does away from the ring that will define him as a good boxer and that's where it gets difficult. I am his mentor and hopefully things will turn out right for him," he said.