WBA interim middleweight champion chasing return clash
Monday 2 March 2015 10:21, UK
Chris Eubank Jr stopped Dmitry Chudinov to clinch the WBA interim middleweight title with a one-sided win - and immediately called for a rematch with Billy Joe Saunders.
Russian Chudinov entered the ring unbeaten but was taken apart by the sort of performance that will push a familiar name into the equation, the fight being halted 51 seconds from the end of the 12th round.
Eubank Jr had himself urged the referee to call a halt in the 12th round and, after his first fight since losing to Saunders, he immediately claimed he is "a class above" his bitter domestic rival and wants that second showdown sorted out next.
Before all that, Chudinov and his team had threatened to pull out if the referee wasn't from a neutral country, but the Russian made it to the ring and announced his arrival with a decent first round. Eubank Jr was caught with a right and in the second, one of several close-in brawls, his elbow did more damage, cutting his opponent above the left eye.
The third round saw both show their class. The Russian's right again got through while the home fighter, with his father in his corner, started to put together classy combinations.
Eubank Jr came into his own in the fourth, shoving Chudinov back with the right uppercut added to the repetoire and the next rounds saw the favourite step up a gear.
The fifth round saw him sway and slip out of the way of an increasingly rare attack and then a classic left counter turned the momentum and the short hooks and straight left took control and the Russian was in serious trouble.
Eubank Jr dominated for there on in, doing what he wanted, when and how. The array of shots were reminiscent of his father at his finest and left everyone expecting the stoppage. The Eubank jab started to go through the guard and the right not only landed on numerous occasions, but saw that cut open even further on that left eyelid.
Both fighters launched a barrage of hooks in the eighth and even though two from Eubank sent Chudinov's gumshield flying, he hit back and both were caught. The ninth saw Eubank put together around 13 unanswered shots, looking better and better and with an added spring to his step.
Chudinov, though, did not give up. Firing back and at times exposing Eubank's willingness to stand and trade – with an openess that might prove a problem as he steps up in class.
But the final round showed just how good he can be. An onslaught in the first 45 seconds of the round saw him batter his brave opponent, the hooks always landing hard and fast, before the referee eventually stepped in with 51 seconds remaining.
Unbeaten Liam Walsh retained his British and Commonwealth super-featherweight belts by forcing a fifth-round stoppage of Joe Murray - brother of John.
Bradley Skeete claimed the vacant WBO European crown with an explosive first-round knockout of Georgia's Anzor Gamgebeli, while the latest fighter on the Fury conveyor belt, cousin Dempsey Fury, made it four wins out of four by out-pointing Lithuanian Ernest Depkas.
