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For a long time, Chris Eubank Jr has been a contender in the super middleweight division, but he still lacked a win over a big name. Now he’s got one, as Eubank outpointed former two-time world champion James DeGale today in London.
Eubank won on scores of 114-112, 115-112, and 117-109. Those were all closer than we saw it, as BLH scored the fight 118-107 for Eubank.
Eubank (28-2, 21 KO) had his way most of the night, with DeGale (25-3-1, 15 KO) looking old at times and unable to deal with the overall speed, athleticism, and power of Eubank.
Eubank scored a knockdown in the second round, setting the tone early by catching DeGale with a left hook, followed by a flurry highlighted by another clean right hand that put DeGale on a knee in the corner.
DeGale was down again in the 10th round, and in between he had trouble doing much of anything with Eubank, often reduced to lunging in with a single punch and then immediately going into a clinch.
In the 11th round, Eubank lost a point for violently slamming DeGale to the canvas, showing some frustration after what had been a rough and often ugly fight, with the referee often struggling to keep things in order.
“I’m coming for all the other belts in the super middleweight division,” Eubank said after the fight. “I knew that he was gonna come in there and use his boxing ability. I’ve been working on my jab. He’s a very slick southpaw. It’s hard to train for a man like that, but the game plan worked.”
Eubank credited “smart pressure” for the victory. “I dominated pretty much every single round,” he added, and said he believes he’s proven himself as a world class fighter.
“I just didn’t do enough,” DeGale admitted. “I’ll have to go back and watch it, but I just didn’t do enough. He was nicking the rounds.”
Asked about possibly retiring, DeGale didn’t commit to that, but did say, “I’ve been to the heights of boxing. Boxed the best around the world. Olympic gold, I’ve made history. If I call it a day now, I’m nice.”