IRISH SUPER-MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION JJ McDonagh will square off with Chris Eubank Jr in the 10-round co-main event to the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 28 September.
The Mullingar man’s career-biggest fight in a fortnight’s time will be broadcast live on ITV Box Office as chief support to the eagerly anticipated WBSS super-middleweight decider between Britons George Groves and Callum Smith.
McDonagh [16-4, 8KOs] will be aiming to spring a monumental upset which would conceivably put him in line to face the winner of Groves-Smith for the WBA world title at 168 pounds.
The Assassin Boxing-managed southpaw, whose brother Paddy is the Irish champion a division above, is said to have more than held his own when he sparred Eubank Jr last year.
Eubank Jr [26-2, 20KOs] lost a 12-round unanimous decision to the aforementioned Groves in their WBSS semi-final back in February, and hasn’t fought since.
“I’m surprised he didn’t retire after he embarrassed himself against Groves,” McDonagh said.
Eubank is a fit man but he does not know how to fight hard. I’m a fighting man from a fighting family of generations of fighters. I am going to knock him out!
The 32-year-old McDonagh has been stopped just once, versus Belfast’s Tommy Tolan in his third pro fight over eight years ago. Two of his four defeats have arrived in three-rounders during single-elimination tournaments Prizefighter and Last Man Standing.
His most recent outing was a semi-final points loss to eventual champion Roy Sheahan at the launch of the latter competition last March, but this followed a stunning first-round knockout of Ger Healy in his quarter-final less than an hour beforehand.
Groves-Smith and Eubank-McDonagh will crown a prestigious night of boxing in a 10,000-capacity indoor arena within the King Abdullah Sports City stadium.
The former pair will trade leather for the Muhammad Ali Trophy as well as Groves’ WBA belt, while Eubank will be looking to force his way back into world title contention — and either a rematch with recent conqueror Groves or a showdown with Smith — by way of an eye-catching victory over the Westmeath man.
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