Eubank Jr Grabs British Middleweight Title From Blackwell

The main event of Saturday’s boxing show at London’s Wembley Arena featured BBBofC British Middleweight Champion Nick Blackwell defending his title as a big underdog against second generation star Chris Eubank Jr.

Eubank Jr. came out and used a powerful uppercut and an aggressive body attack to establish himself from the start. As expected, Blackwell was game, doing well to trap Eubank Jr. in the corners on a pair of occasions.

By the second round both men had warmed up. Eubank appeared to get off first, but Blackwell answered often enough to make a fight out of it. By round three, Blackwell was beginning to bleed from the nose. Round four  saw Eubank Jr. find his comfort zone while Blackwell appeared to slow down. In round five, Eubank Jr. tried to close the fight out with a flurry, but Blackwell landed a big shot to back him off. Blackwell spent the last thirty seconds trying to make up for the earlier part of the round. The crowd was on it’s feet as round five came to a close.

In round six the pace settled down a bit, but by the end of the round both men were slugging it out. Eubank went back to his reliable body attack and uppercuts to likely take the round.

Eubank came out fast in round seven and he appeared to spend energy trying to finish the fight. Blackwell was bloodied badly to the nose in the onslaught. Blackwell appeared to be channeling Micky Ward, as he responded when he could, coming forward and not showing any type of quit.

At the start of round eight, the referee warned Chris Eubank Sr. for standing on the ring apron. When the action started, Eubank Jr. again unleashed a barrage of punches, but once again Blackwell emerged still standing and the pace of the round settled down. Blackwell closed strong but both men were beginning to show wear and tear.

Round nine saw Eubank Jr. come out and play more defense. Blackwell continued to come forward, but Eubank Jr. was making him miss. By round ten, Blackwell had swelling above his left eye. The referee stepped in to have the doctor look at the eye and the doctor stopped the fight after examining the swelling.

The undercard fight for Hugh “Young” Fury, Tyson Fury’s 19 year old brother who sports a 6-1 record, did not happen. Cousin Hughie Fury was in the co-main event facing Dominick Guinn, a match that played out after the Eubank-Blackwell bout.

At 21 years old and at 18-0, Fury has had several fights cancelled recently and was looking to log ringtime before a scheduled April 30th appearance that is rumored to be a step-up in competition. According to some reports, the doctors on the scene are checking on the condition of Nick Blackwell and are not available to work ringside, leading to the delay of Fury versus Guinn.

When the fight finally came off, the arena was nearly empty. Fury won a unanimous decision over his lackluster opponent. Guinn did not have much offense and took a lot of punches. Before the start of round eight, Fury’s cousin Tyson Fury, the lineal Heavyweight champion, entered the ring to serve as the “ring card girl.” The Furys certainly are enjoying themselves as they sit atop the Heavyweight pile.

Check out The Sweet Science report on Hughie Fury vs Dominick Guinn.

The complete results for Mick Hennessy’s March 26th show at Wembley appear below.

March 26th, 2016 – Wembley Arena
London, United Kingdom

Middle 12 Rounds: Chris Eubank Jr. over Nick Blackwell by Doc Stop @2:21 in RD 10.
Heavy 10 Rounds: Hughie Fury over Dominick Guinn by Unanimous Decision.
Welterweight 6 Rounds: Ricky Boylan over Lukasz Janik on PTS (60-55).
Welterweight 4 Rounds: Kane Heron over Kevin McCauley on PTS (40-36)
Light Heavyweight 6 Rounds: Frank Buglioni over Olegs Fedotovs by TKO in RD 1.
Super Welter 6 Rounds: Peter McDonagh over Arvydas Trizno on PTS (60-55).
Heavyweight 4 Rounds: Nick Webb over Zoltan Csala by TKO in RD 1.
Lightweight 4 Rounds: Yusuf Safa over Teodor Stefanov by TKO in RD 3.