Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Tom Doran results

By Boxing News - 06/25/2016 - Comments

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By Patrick McHugh: British middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18 KOs) made easy work of the previously unbeaten challenger Tom Doran (17-1, 7 KOs) in stopping him in the 4th round tonight at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Eubank Jr. knocked Doran down four times in the fight, dropping him once in round three and three times in round four.

Doran, 28, got to his feet in a dispirited way after the fourth knockdown of the contest. At that point, referee Marcus McDonnell stopped the fight. He could have allowed the fight to continue but Doran was totally over-matched unable to stay on his feet from the constant power shots Eubank Jr. was hitting him with.

At the start of round one, Eubank Jr. stood in his corner and didn’t move. The referee had to stop the action and speak with Eubank Jr. about fighting. Eubank Jr. then started fighting slowly and not going a whole lot in the round. Eubank Jr. did enough to win, but it was as if he was fighting at one-quarter speed. Doran landed some quick left hooks and right hands, showing off impressive hand speed and power. Doran appeared to have the faster hands, which was surprising because Eubank Jr. is supposed to be a fighter with nice hand speed. When the two of them were in the clinch, Doran landed some tasty right hands to the head of Eubank Jr.

There wasn’t much action from either fighter in round two. The crowd booed from the midpoint of the round until the end. Doran looked cautious, and Eubank Jr. didn’t want to open up with his punches at that time.

The fight changed in round three, as Eubank Jr. hurt Doran with a right uppercut to the head. Eubank Jr. then flurried on Doran while he was trapped against the ropes. Doran finally hit the deck from a an accumulation of heavy blows to the head.

The punishment continued into round four with Eubank Jr. teeing off on Donra with a storm of hard shots to the head. Eubank Jr. dropped Doran with a nice right hand to the head. After Doran got back to his feet, Eubank Jr. began to showboat and throw shots from every angle. Moments later, Eubank Jr. dropped Doran with a right uppercut to the head. Eubank Jr. then froze in position to further showboat. It was needless stuff because he wasn’t facing the type of opponent for him to go into theatrics against. If this was a good fighter, then it would have been understandable, but this wasn’t a world ranked contender.

The win for Eubank Jr. now paves the way for him to face IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin this year. Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler says that the Eubank Jr. vs. Golovkin fight will take place in either August or September. Despite looking good tonight, Eubank Jr. did not put in the type of performance against Doran that would suggest that he could beat or even be competitive against a fighter in Golovkin’s class. Doran would have likely been knocked effortlessly in round one by a fighter like Golovkin if he were the one sharing the ring with him tonight. Eubank Jr. was getting hit too much by Doran, who showed nice hand speed and decent punching power.