Results from Manchester where Chris Eubank Jr Avenged a KO Loss in a Dominant Fashion

Results from Manchester where Chris Eubank Jr Avenged a KO Loss in a Dominant Fashion

Turnabouts are fair play as said in America.

Chris Eubank Jr. avenged a knockout loss to Liam Smith with a dominant knockout win in a rematch between British middleweights on Saturday.

Ironically, Eubank (33-3, 24 KOs) knocked down Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) in the same fourth round that the Liverpool bruiser stopped him. This time, a large crowd at the AO Arena in Manchester, England witnessed the loser avenge a humiliating loss with a decisive win.

But it took Eubank 10 rounds to break down the always rugged former world champion Smith. He won every round.

“Liam Smith is a warrior,” said Eubank about the length of the win despite two knockdowns and then the stoppage. “I had no other choice/ there are too many big fights for me.”

Now trained by Terence Crawford’s mentor Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, Eubank looked sharp and focused against veteran slugger Smith who had surprisingly won by knockout this past January at the same arena.

Many expected the same result including former champion Kell Brook who attended the fight.

However, Eubank used a jab, body shots and then uppercuts to pierce through Smith’s defense and dropped him with a six-punch barrage in the fourth round. Though clearly hurt, Smith managed to avoid a stoppage with his head movement while against the ropes.

Eubank had expended a large amount of energy but he was dominant again in the fifth round. Smith seemed still hurt and rarely punched back as he seemed to gather time to recover.

From the sixth round on Eubank was in complete control. Though Smith tried to use the same overhand right to land the big bomb, it was unsuccessful this time around.

In the 10^th round Eubank unleashed a punishing 12-punch volley including a left to the body that sent Smith to the canvas. He beat the count but was met by another heavy barrage of blows that prompted referee Kevin Parker to wave the fight over at 1:45 of the round.

Eubank had avenged his loss by technical knockout.

“I’m not going to lie. What happened tonight was supposed to happen last time,” Eubank said.

Eubank asked for a match with the great Gennady Golovkin.

“I want to fight Triple G,” said Eubank about Golovkin holding middleweight world titles. “I want to take one.”

Mikaela Mayer Wins

Former super featherweight world titlist Mikaela Mayer showed that jumping up several weight divisions was not much of an obstacle in defeating Italy’s extremely tough Silvia Bortot by unanimous decision after 10 rounds.

Mayer (19-1, 5 KOs) won every round over Bortot (11-3-1, 3 KOs) but was unable to stop the super lightweight though she did come very close.

It was an example of perfect matchmaking by her Top Rank team and enabled Mayer to use her height and fighting skills to maximum effort. Bortot was a worthy and skilled foe who had her moments but not enough to prove too much of a problem.

Bortot had her best round in the fourth as she connected several times over the taller Mayer. It was the closest round of the match and probably sparked a reaction from the American champion.

Mayer attacked the body furiously in the fifth and when Bortot covered up, she was hit with riveting rights from the American fighter. It opened up Mayer’s attack from that point on.

In this fight Mayer was able to establish a very strong left hook that she used to both the body and head. It was effective and kept Bortot from being able to fend off the attacks. But the Italian never stopped trying and kept firing back. She would not quit.

“She’s a tough girl,” Mayer said.

Mayer opened up with all of her weaponry in the ninth round as she battered Bortot with body and head shots. The Italian fighter looked hurt and close to being dropped, but the two-minutes expired to save her from that predicament.

“I always say more minutes in those rounds,” Mayer said meaning an extra minute instead of the current two-minute rounds.

In the final round Mayer battered the body and kept on the attack. The referee stepped in to warn Mayer from firing below the belt and wasted nearly 30 seconds in the process. That saved Bortot.

Other Bouts

Jack Cullen (22-4-1, 10 KOs) proved that a few losses can’t prevent a contender from winning a title as he knocked out Mark Heffron (29-3-1) to win the British and Commonwealth super middleweight title.

“It’s unreal,” said Cullen. “If I didn’t get beat, I wouldn’t be a titlist at the end of the day.”

Cullen used his height and reach to establish a strong left jab and when Heffron chose to exchange, a counter left hook floored the champion at 2:43 of the third round.

Florian Marku (13-0-1, 8 KOs) needed less than one minute to blow out Ireland’s Dylan Moran (18-2) as he had predicted all week long in a battle of southpaw welterweight sluggers.

After a few seconds of finding the range, Marku timed one of Moran’s right hand jabs with a counter left that staggered the Irish fighter. Immediately the Albanian attacked and forced the referee Mark Lyson to intercede at 54 seconds of the round for a technical knockout.

“I want these big fights, these big names,” said Marku. “Bring me something where I can show what I can do.”

In a super lightweight battle Adam Azim (9-0, 6 KOs) out-pointed Aram Fanyan (23-2) to win by unanimous decision after 10 rounds.

Heavyweight Frazer Clarke (8-0, 6 KOs) won by stoppage over David Allen (21-6-2) at the end of round six when an apparent broken jaw forced Allen to retire.

Photo credit: BOXXER Lawrence Lustig

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