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Eubanks beaten on a unanimous points decision
Posted On 18 Feb 2018 at 9:45 am
Chris Eubank Jr was beaten by George Groves on a unanimous points decision in their World Boxing Super Series semi-final last night (Saturday 17 February).
The judges scored the contest 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 as Eubank suffered only the second defeat of his 28-fight professional career.
The Brighton and Hove boxer made a slow start and took a cut above his right eye in a clash of heads in the third round.
The 28-year-old also struggled to impose himself on a fighter who was notably less static than some of his recent opponents.
Groves, 29, did his best to prevent the IBO super-middleweight champion from getting in close in a thrilling fight.
And they traded a series of heavy blows with both men unsurprisingly showing signs of tiredness in the final rounds.
The Londoner tried to claim a knockdown when Eubank tumbled to the canvas in the tenth but it wasn’t given.
Groves went straight to hospital from the fight at the Manchester Arena with a suspected dislocated left shoulder which appeared to have happened in the final round.
But it was too late in the bout to prevent him from retaining his WBA super middleweight title.
Eubank felt that he had done enough as the fight progressed to swing it but all three judges thought otherwise.
Groves is due to take part in the series final in June, facing either Callum Smith or Jürgen Brämer, who meet next week, in the contest for the inaugural Mohammad Ali Trophy.
“Fine, Junior catches a certain section of the public with these Rocky-style training montage videos he’s putting out there, but Senior has lost the plot completely, lost his grip on reality when he describes what his son is capable of,” added Groves of Eubank, who has stepped up a division to 12st from middleweight, having been installed as the favourite by the bookmakers. Groves, a 29-year-old Londoner and a year older than the challenger, continued: “There is lots with the Eubanks that I don’t understand.