CHRIS EUBANK JR took a frustrating victory on his New York debut on Saturday (December 7). His opponent Matt Korobov had to withdraw with an injured shoulder in only the second round.
“I was trying to throw the left hand straight, and I just felt the muscle immediately, like I pulled it,” Korobov explained. “It was a lot of pain right away. I couldn’t fight with just one arm, especially being a southpaw.”
The win, however it came, gives Eubank an Interim middleweight title from the WBA.
“I felt like I was about to get my swagger on,” Eubank told Showtime. “He just turned around and stopped. I was going to go jump on him. I guess something happened with his shoulder. There’s nothing to take from the fight. I threw like three or four punches. I was just warming up.”
“I’m the winner, I’m going to move forward and challenge for these belts,” Eubank continued. “This wasn’t my dream. My dream was to come here to America and make a statement. Now that I’ve landed and I settled with the new promotional team, I feel I can get the ball rolling for an active 2020. It’s a shame it had to start like this, but it is what it is.”
In the main event Jermall Charlo, the WBC middleweight belt-holder after Canelo Alvarez was elevated to ‘franchise’ champion, beat Ireland’s Dennis Hogan. Charlo secured the win with a knockout in the seventh round.
“I made it through 2019 and we’re going to 2020 with 20/20 vision,” said Charlo in the ring following the fight. “Shout out to Dennis Hogan for giving me real competition and for coming up to fight me. Of course my power prevailed tonight.
“I try to take him out with every punch and we work hard for it. He got up and he fought like a champion. Ronnie [Shields] told me to cut him off. I just threw the shot and I made sure I threw it right on the money.
“The middleweight division is wide open. I’m the WBC champion. I’m going to enjoy this and spend time with my team. I’m here to fight whoever. You have to make the right decisions and do it at the right time. That’s what it’s all about.”
“I wanted to keep going but the decision was fair enough by the referee,” said Hogan. “I didn’t see the punch coming on the second knockdown. I was trying to keep boxing him but then all of a sudden I was on the ground and the fight was over.
“I’m looking forward to spending the Christmas holiday with my family, taking a month off, and then we’ll work on what’s next for me.”
