Chris Eubank Jr has left James DeGale facing retirement after securing the finest victory of his career via a unanimous decision in their IBO super middleweight title match in London – AIWA! NO!
Tempers flared multiple times leading up to their fight, but Chris Eubank Jr. was the one who had the final say against James DeGale on Saturday.
Eubank Jr. (28-2, 21 KOs) dropped his rival in the second round and essentially dominated DeGale (25-3-1, 15 KOs) the rest of the way. Eubank Jr., the son of former two-division world champion Chris Eubank, scored another knockdown in the 10th, and then had a point taken away in the next frame for tossing “Chunky” to the canvas.
Even with the infraction, Eubank Jr. was too far ahead on the scorecards for it matter and he won a unanimous decision. The official tallies of the super middleweight encounter were 114-112, 115-112 and 117-109 for the Brit, souring the moods of thousands in attendance inside the O2 Arena in London, DeGale’s hometown.
Former IBF featherweight monarch Lee Selby improved to 27-2 (KOs) with a unanimous decision over the tough Omar Douglas.
“Chunky” James DeGale has pretty much been all over the place in terms of performance. The now 32 year old started his pro career with the highest accolade possible, an Olympic gold medal from Beijing in 2008. He started his career with ten straight wins as expected too. When it came time to step up for an all prospect battle with George Groves, however, DeGale fell a hair short in losing a very close majority decision. Chunky recovered well though and went on to win a world title in 2015 on the strength of two early knockdowns over Andre Dirrell.
STANDING EIGHT COUNT
It wasn’t easy for “Lightning,” who suffered a cut over his left eye int eh second and then over his right in seventh, but Selby used his experience and immense skillset to prevail. Two judges saw it 116-112 and the third had it 115-114, giving Selby a win in his return to lightweight. Douglas fell to 19-3 with 13 KOs.