Eubank Jnr Takes a Chunk out of DeGale's Legacy in One-sided Contest
Chris Eubank Jnr dominated the former Olympic & two time world champion James DeGale, effectively sending ‘Chunky’ into retirement at London’s O2 arena.
Dubbed ‘the retirement fight’ by DeGale himself, Eubank Jnr was aggressive from the get-go in a scrappy, sometimes too physical contest that went the full distance whilst DeGale struggled with a significant response throughout the 12 rounds.
The rumours in the build up to the fight regarding DeGale’s status as the fighter who had beaten Andre Dirrell in the US and salvaged a tough draw against Badou Jack were confirmed as the former Olympian looked a shadow of his former self.
DeGale who perhaps a couple of years ago would have been able to outbox Eubank Jnr was given two standing counts including an occasion where he looked to voluntarily take a knee.
At times, DeGale showed shades of his former self, making Eubank Jnr miss wildly one a couple of occasions but was unable to outsmart the Brighton based fighter for more than a couple of rounds.
To the surprise of the crowd, two judges awarded the fight as 114-112 & 115-112 whilst the other judge called the fight 117-109. In a fight that many people feel that Eubank Jnr dominated, it was concerning to see 2/3 judges award the fight as close as that even with two knockdowns.
Whilst DeGale will surely retire now, Eubank Jnr has stated that he’s after anybody with a world championship belt in either the Middleweight or Super-Middleweight divisions.
After finally performing on the big stage, what Eubank Jnr can achieve in the rest of his time in the sport is up for debate. However, after such a convincing victory and with an actual trainer in his corner, Jnr can not only win a genuine world title in the sport but can also step out of his Father’s shadow.
Other Results Included
Joe Joyce moved to 8-0 (8) after dismantling Bermane Stiverne over the course of 6 rounds, knocking down the Haitian fighter in the process.
Stiverne who weighed in at a career high 273 pounds, a whole fifty pounds heavier than his debut in 2005 was largely inactive after the first couple of rounds giving Howard Foster little choice but to call a halt to the fight.
Lee Selby returned to the ring for the first time since his defeat to Josh Warrington last year in controversial fashion after being awarded a points victory over Omar Douglas.
In a gruelling 12 round contest for the IBF Inter-Continental Lightweight title, Selby suffered a bad cut early on in the fight which seemed to get worse and worse as the contest continued.
Many were surprised to hear that Selby had been awarded a unanimous decision of 116-112 x 2 & 115-114 rather than Douglas who performed at a consistent high level throughout the fight.
Ring-rust was evident from Selby who jumped straight into a 12 round contest after being out of the ring for 9 months in a higher weight division.
However, regardless of opinions Selby will now move onto bigger names in the lightweight division, possibly Richard Commey who holds the IBF world title.
Andre Sterling moved to 10-0 in a tough fight against Ricky Summers after suffering a heavy knockdown in the 2nd round. The Londoner was awarded the victory with judges scores of 97-92 x 2 & 97-93.
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