Eubank Jr says McDonagh 'quit' following Irishman's retirement after three rounds citing a shoulder injury
Friday 28 September 2018 22:39, UK
Chris Eubank Jr got back to winning ways with a third-round TKO victory over JJ McDonagh on the World Boxing Super Series undercard in Jeddah.
The controversial and enigmatic super-middleweight had the Irishman down in the opening round, and stepped it up a gear round-by-round only for McDonagh to be pulled out after three rounds.
It appeared to be a right shoulder injury that brought the fight to a surprise halt.
Eubank Jr, who had not fought since his World Boxing Super Series semi-final loss to George Groves in February, expressed his frustration at the early end to the fight.
"[McDonagh] says it's his right shoulder. I'm not convinced but it is what it is," he told ITV Box Office.
"This was my opportunity to shake off some ring rust, it was good while it lasted but the going was too tough for him and he quit. I was starting to land at will.
"I caught him early and usually would have gone into 'destroy mode' but I wanted the rounds and to display some of my boxing skills. I wanted to show I could box.
"I'm back to winning ways and now we want a big fight before the end of the year. James DeGale is a fight I'm trying to make happen and one I'm looking forward to."
Eubank Jr started brightly, landing a sweeping left that put McDonagh down in the opening round. In the second, he started to put his punches together, his jab working well.
The third saw the Brighton fighter land a three-punch combination and he finished it off with a heavy right, and by the time the bell came, he was back to something like his best physically and, given his comments following the stoppage, verbally too.
The opening bout of the night saw Danish heavyweight Kem Ljungquist move to 6-0-KO4, with two hard-hitting rounds forcing the trainer of Egyptian national champion Mourad Omar to call off the fight.
Shepherd's Bush cruiserweight Mikael Lawal moved to 8-0 with a second-round knockout of Tamas Kozma, a clubbing right sending the Hungarian to the floor and unable to beat the count.
Saudi Arabia's first professional boxer, Zuhayr Al Qahtan, remained unbeaten with a four-round points win over Mohamed Mahmoud. The Mitcham based super-lightweight was given a rousing welcoming to the Indoor Arena before, during and after his fifth outing.
Darren Surtees produced one of the best finishes of the night, blasting out Kane Baker, a former opponent of Conor Benn, in two rounds. The County Durham super-lightweight put his man down twice, the second taking him to 9-0-KO6.
