Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

James DeGale vs Chris Eubank Jr result: Junior knocks DeGale down twice en route to one-sided win

Relive all the action as James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr settled their longstanding rivalry at the 02 Arena

Tom Kershaw
Sunday 24 February 2019 00:29 GMT
Comments
James DeGale v Chris Eubank Jr: Tale of the Tape

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

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.

He had previously lost his two biggest fights, against Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves, but improved sufficiently to win an occasion DeGale said would force the loser to retire.

At 29 and with so high a profile there was little risk of that for Eubank Jr, but after his third defeat and a career in which he became the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a world title DeGale - the loser by scores of 114-112, 115-112 and 117-109 - has been left with few lucrative options to pursue.

Relive all the live action below...

Please wait a moment for the blog to load...

Here's the knockdown in the second round:

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:05

Round 6: Another similar round where the pace is slightly dropped, but Eubank remains the most dangerous and the more active fighter. George Groves, calling the fight from ringside, predicts Eubank will get the stoppage before the final bell.

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:09

Round 7: DeGale manages to find some movement and starts to circle Eubank and pick his punches better. Eubank can't quite seem to regain the fizz he started with and is in danger of becoming one-paced.

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:11

Round 7: But now DeGale's come unstuck. Eubank finds his chin and rushes in and lands another burst of shots to the chin. DeGale sticks his tongue out at the final bell, but that flurry will surely have racked up another round for Eubank.

DeGale has always been guilty of sitting on the ropes in fights before, he simply can't afford to do that against Eubank.

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:12

Round 8: Another left-hand gets through but this time DeGale manages to spin his way out of the corner.

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:13

Round 8: It's getting scrappier in the eighth as DeGale looks to clinch when Eubank comes inside. 

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:15

Round 8: Eubank bursts into life, quite literally chasing DeGale around the ring almost at a sprint. DeGale had got through with a few left hands early on but again it's overshadowed by that late flurry. It's a messy fight, it's not being played out at elite level, but Eubank's raw aggression is clearly edging it at the moment.

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:16

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:17

Round 9: Eubank lands a big right hand at the end of the round! DeGale just can't seem to get inside and, ironically, it's the unrefined Eubank who is in fact outboxing the Olympic gold medallist.

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:22

Knockdown! Eubank knocks DeGale down at the end of the 10th round!

Tom Kershaw23 February 2019 23:24

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in