Middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr (34-3, 24 KOs) cleared the path to a high-profile bout against fellow Brit Nigel Benn with a seventh-round knockout of Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2, 8 KOs) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Szeremeta was down four times in the bout.
Boxing on the undercard of the undisputed light heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, the 35-year-old Eubank Jr proved a class above at every stage of the fight.
Eubank Jr had early success, using his explosive power to connect with power shots. A chopping right hand from Eubank Jr sent Szeremeta down in the opening round, but Szeremeta retaliated with a right hand of his own late in the stanza that sent Eubank Jr backwards.
The second round saw Eubank Jr land a flashy right uppercut, left uppercut combination from range. In the third Eubank Jr suffered a small cut over his from an accidental clash of heads.
The fourth and fifth were scrappy rounds, but Eubank Jr continued to get the better of the action.
Eubank Jr lifted in the sixth. A right hand to the body followed by a right to the head sent Szeremeta to the canvas for the second time in the bout. Szeremeta, who was reportedly considering retirement before taking the bout, survived the round, but the writing was on the wall.
Eubank Jr started the seventh with purpose. He pressured Szeremeta, mixing up his shots to the body and head. A right uppercut to the solar plexus took the wind out of Szeremeta’s sails and he dropped to the canvas. Szeremeta beat the count, but a cheeky left rip to the same spot sent him down again.
Szeremeta bravely made it to his feet, but the referee decided he had seen enough and wisely waved off the one-sided contest. The official time of the stoppage was 1:50.
As dominant as the fight was, Eubank Jr was in cruise control at times.
“I was having fun in there,” said The Ring’s No.5 ranked contender after the fight. “To be honest, I thought I could finish the fight in the first round… I had fun in there, I worked on things. I’m looking forward to the big fight that’s coming up next.”
In scenes reminiscent of the WWE, domestic rival Benn, who boxes at welterweight, rushed the ring after the fight to literally butt heads with Eubank Jr and issue a challenge after tweeting from ringside: “I promise you I will chin this idiot inside 3 rounds.”
It was great theater, but if the bout is to take place on home soil, the 28-year-old Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) will need to get clearance to box after being stripped of his license by the British Boxing Board of Control following a failed drugs test that derailed the Eubank Jr two years ago.
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