Weekend Boxing Results, Feb. 25

Eubank with the takedown! #EubankDeGale pic.twitter.com/ato0yuxYhJ

— BoxingMatrix (@BoxingMatrix) February 23, 2019

Chris Eubank Jr. Decisions James DeGale in Ugly Fight

Well, that will likely do it for James DeGale's career. After getting dropped from punches in the second and 10th, and once by an illegal bodyslam in the 11th round, DeGale would go on to lose a unanimous 114-112, 115-112, 117-109 decision to Chris Eubank Jr. With the win, Eubank became the IBO super middleweight champion of the world.

After the fight, there was a consensus that DeGale had become washed up, and that the fight was more indicative of how over the hill he was than how much Eubank had improved as a fighter. But, as British boxing writer Steve Bunce pointed out on twitter, those people were awfully quiet before the fight. Still, after calling this a “retirement fight” beforehand, it’s time for DeGale, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, to call it quits.

What’s next for Chris Eubank is an interesting question. Fellow Brit Callum Smith is undefeated at 25-0 with 18 knockouts and holds the WBA Title at super middleweight. A unification bout for the two somewhere in the UK would make a ton of money, and makes a lot of sense as long as boxing politics don’t get in the way. If not Smith, a rematch with Billy Joe Saunders who is fighting for a 168-pound title in April would be fun; however, Eubank has called Saunders a "drug cheat" and indicated that’s not a fight he has any interest in pursuing.

Either way, Eubank now has a title and a marquee win to go along with his famous last name. We’ll see if at 29 he can use this win to propel himself to something greater.

Anthony Dirrell Wins World Title After Cutting Yildirim

Whether he retires or not, Anthony Dirrell can call himself a world champion once again. Dirrell beat Avni Yildirim by a split 92-98, 96-94, 96-94 decision to re-win the WBC super-middleweight title, a title he held for just one fight in 2014.

After an exciting eight rounds, Dirrell and Yildirim accidentally clashed heads in the ninth round which caused a cut over Dirrell’s eye. With Dirrell knowing he was likely ahead on the scorecards he played it safe in the tenth round, until the ringside physician deemed that the fight needed to be stopped in the tenth. Yildirim was unhappy to say the least, while his team lashed out at the press conference and had to be held back while shouting expletives.

The first issue was the cut. As Boxingscene’s Fransisco Salazar pointed out, fights have continued with far worse cuts, and as many have pointed out the ringside physician seemed anxious to stop the fight for some reason. The second issue was the scorecards. Many people saw the fight as extremely close, so while a 98-92 score for Yildirim was outrageous, many people believed he was winning.

After the fight, pretty much everyone on social media was calling for a rematch. If Dirrell is going to continue fighting, that would make sense.

Jamal James Stops Janer Gonzalez in Six. Calls Out Biggest Names at 147

Jamal James wins again. After getting dropped in the sixth round, Janer Gonzalez opted not to leave his corner to start the seventh round, giving “Shango” his second straight stoppage win in his hometown of Minneapolis, and his fifth win in a row as a professional.

But while James has been reserved about calling fighters out or demanding title shots, after the fight he was very clear that he wanted a big name at 147. After praising his hometown crowd for bracing the cold and snow to attend the fight, he said, “The only question I have is where's my belt? I'm ranked third in the WBA. Keith Thurman got the belt, Pacquiao got the belt. But in all honesty, whoever gives me that opportunity I'm stepping in there with them.”

That’s a good start, but those words are far from enough to get him a shot at somebody as well-known as Pacquiao or Thurman. James is too good to be considered an easy victory and filling the Minneapolis Armory doesn’t exactly make you a world-renowned superstar. This was a good win, but it is highly unlikely he will get one of the huge names at 147 without taking a huge pay cut or travelling to somebody else’s backyard.

Joe Joyce Dominates What Was Left of Bermane Stiverne

Is Joe Joyce that good, or has Bermane Stiverne become that bad? That’s the question that boxing fans were left with after Joyce thoroughly dominated Stiverne, culminating in a sixth-round TKO victory. The consistently pudgy Stiverne came in 19 pounds heavier than he had against Deontay Wilder, and Stiverne’s body was far from cut in those fights. As a result, from almost the opening minute of the fight Bermane Stiverne was an immobile punching bag whose only hope of winning was the occasional haymakers he would wing at Joyce. Stiverne was dropped in the third but managed to survive until the sixth round when an uppercut forced the referee to mercifully stop the fight.

Because of Stiverne’s pathetic performance, we still don’t know how good Joyce, who has fought only eight times as a professional, really is. His trainer, Abel Sanchez, said that he is about three fights away from being ready to take on one of the elite heavyweights, which sounds about right. Luckily for Joyce, his next fight will likely be against not-quite elite Syrian Manuel Charr for the WBA “regular” Heavyweight title.

Humberto Soto Decisions Brandon Rios in DAZN’s Mexican Debut

In the first DAZN fight card ever from Mexico, Mexican veteran Humberto Soto took a questionably wide 119-111, 118-112, 118-112 unanimous decision victory over the always game Brandon Rios. While most felt that Soto outboxed Rios throughout, others felt that Rios’ come forward style and pressure were enough to at least win him a few more rounds than the judges gave him.

For Rios, it’s likely time to call it a career. Although he is only 32, his pressuring style and tendency to get into back-and-forth wars has clearly taken its toll and he is not the fighter he once was, who was never good enough to beat the elite of the elite anyway. And despite the win, Soto should probably retire too. This was his 69th win, and while it was a good one it’s doubtful at 38 years old he’s going to get a title shot anytime soon.

Still, this was a decent fight between two guys who should be applauded for what they’ve accomplished in the past, not for whatever they think they can do in the future.