The long-anticipated middleweight grudge match finally erupted, and after a frantic opening six minutes it settled into a pattern: Conor Benn marched forward with fast jabs and overhand rights, clipping Chris Eubank Jr. with a thudding shot in the third that forced a clinch and produced a tumble in centre ring. Eubank adjusted, doubling his jab, digging to the body, and repeatedly cuffing Benn in clinches earning warnings but also sapping Benn’s legs. By the middle rounds the older man’s lateral movement and flurries had begun to nick the sessions, and though two facial cuts opened on Eubank, he closed stronger, swarming Benn in the final minute of the twelfth before all three judges returned identical 116-112 cards in his favour.
Watch the official fight highlights: Watch
A huge step-up at 160 lbs saw Aaron McKenna use his length and engine to out-work former champion Liam Smith. The Irishman’s piston jab and switch-hitting combinations piled up points, while Smith’s trademark body work never found rhythm. A clash of heads just into the final round left Smith sliced over the eye and bloodied; seconds later a short left hook dumped him for an eight-count, confirming scores of 119-108, 118-108 and 117-109 that herald McKenna’s arrival among the division’s serious players.
Watch the official fight highlights: Watch
Eight months of build-up for a trilogy decider produced twelve gruelling light-heavyweight rounds. Anthony Yarde bullied Lyndon Arthur to the ropes from the opening bell, hammering the ribs and chopping upstairs. Arthur’s ramrod right hand offered pockets of resistance - most notably in rounds nine and ten - but Yarde’s volume, fitness and more telling bursts convinced two judges 116-112 and a third 115-113 that the WBA Inter-Continental belt would leave with the Londoner.
Watch the official fight highlights: Watch
A pair of right-hook knockdowns proved decisive in a crowd-pleasing cruiserweight clash between Chris Billam-Smith and Brandon Glanton. Billam-Smith pressed behind a high guard early, then floored Glanton in the sixth and again in the seventh—both times the American insisting he’d slipped, though replays suggested fists had done the damage. Glanton rallied on sheer grit, marching forward through rounds ten to twelve, but the cleaner counters and greater ring craft of the former WBO champion secured tallies of 116-112 twice and 115-113.
Watch the official fight highlights: Watch
Domestic cruiserweight bragging rights stayed with Viddal Riley after twelve tense rounds against Cheavon Clarke. The champion’s nimble footwork and southpaw jab bagged the early frames before a clash of heads opened a cut over Clarke’s left brow in the eighth. Clarke pressed hard down the stretch, winging right hands, yet Riley’s counter-lefts and ring-generalship persuaded the judges 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Watch the official fight highlights: Watch
Image Credit: Getty Images