There are times when despair sets in. Those of us who have been considered and temperate in our defence of boxing have been abandoned once more.

Even at the best of times, boxing is difficult to defend. It should not, surely, be damaged by young men who have become extremely rich by their skills in the square ring.

The disgusting behaviour of Mike Tyson a couple of weeks ago seemed to take us to the edge of the abyss. The anti - boxing brigade was given ammunition in a way which they only could have dreamed about. The clamour for a world-wide ban was given considerable momentum.

We thought then that the sport could not sink any lower. Yet, this week Chris Eubank made statements which have again brought boxing into disrepute.

In an interview on Channel 5 television the former world super middleweight champion made remarks about boxing which are simply unacceptable. Referring to his bout against Steve Collins in Millstreet in March, 1995 he said that: "One man's life is not more important than another man's career". A more outrageous statement it would be hard to imagine.

Thankfully the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) were quick to condemn the statement. But Eubank's statements are still on the record and, so far, no retraction or apology has been made.

The fact that Eubank was involved in a tragic boxing incident six years ago merely makes his statement worse. His bout with Michael Watson almost ended in death and since then Watson has been confined to a wheelchair and will never lead a normal life again.

Yet Eubank talks about his regret in regard to that event and still can talk about death in the boxing ring as though such an event might be regarded as the norm.

The point that Eubank was making was that when he knocked Collins down in their Millstreet fight in 1995 he allowed the memory of Watson's fate to influence his approach. "After I let Steve Collins get away when I knocked him down and didn't go after him because I didn't want to kill him.

"But I should have killed him. Or let me use other words. Steve Collins' life is not more important than my career".

It is nothing short of criminal that any sportsman should use such language. One can only hope that the BBBC will take a very severe view of these statements. Already the general secretary of the board has been strong in his condemnation. "Any comment from anyone that refers to death in the ring fills me with horror and anger". Let us hope that the matter is not allowed to end there.

It is widely accepted that boxing is fiercely competitive and dangerous. It is also accepted that, in the build up to bouts, boxers will make statements to hype up the atmosphere in order to provide the media with quotes. The protagonists will square up to each other and glare belligerently for the cameras.

Managers and handlers will make exaggerated claims and challenges. By and large, however, the boxers themselves will never lose respect for each other and, as in many other sports, rivals often become friends when the business of winning and losing is complete.

That is why Chris Eubank's posing as a a country squire with jodhpurs and a monacle or Steve Collins with his Irish wolfhound or more recently his kilt for the bout in Glasgow, is accepted as part of the build-up to the occasion.

Talking about killing and death in the stark terms used by Eubank this week on a programme entitled Live and Dangerous is unacceptable. Consider also the mind-set of a man who can state: "I've looked into the crowd and seen the blood lust. They drool to see blood and I don't like it". It is difficult to reconcile that statement some years ago with his most recent outburst.

Then there was the occasion when he signed up with Sky television to make 10 title defences within the space of a year and a half. On that occasion he said: "Insane. Perhaps they're right. But I've never claimed to be sane".

It is no coincidence that it was Steve Collins who put an abrupt end to that series of bouts when he beat Eubank not once but twice. Perhaps the knowledge that Collins out-thought him and outboxed him in Millstreet and Pairc Ui Chaoimh may have soured his attitude and inspired his most recent outburst.

Mike Tyson has been punished for his behaviour in the ring and now Eubank must also face the consequences.