Middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr (34-3, 24 KOs) cleared the way for a high-profile fight against fellow Brit Nigel Benn with a seventh-round knockout of Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2, 8 KOs) at Kingdom Arena Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Szeremeta was down four times in the fight.
Boxing on the undercard of the undisputed light heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, 35-year-old Eubank Jr. proved a class above in every stage of the battle.
Eubank Jr found early success by using his explosive power to connect with power shots. A slashing 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 back.
The second round saw Eubank Jr land a flashy right uppercut and left uppercut combination from the range. In the third, Eubank Jr suffered a small cut over his from an accidental clash of heads.
The fourth and fifth were close rounds, but Eubank Jr. went on to win 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 fight. Szeremeta, who was said to be considering retirement before taking the bout, survived the round, but the writing was on the wall.
Eubank Jr. started the seventh in purpose. He pressured Szeremeta and mixed 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 fell to the canvas. Szeremeta beat the count, but a brutal left rip to the same spot dropped him again.
Szeremeta bravely got to his feet, but the referee decided he had seen enough and wisely waved off the one-sided game. The official time of the stoppage was 1:50.
As dominant as the fight was, Eubank Jr. sometimes in cruise control.
“I had fun in there,” The Ring’s No.5 contender said after the fight. “To be honest, I thought I could finish the fight in the first round … I had fun there, I worked on things. I’m looking forward to the next big fight.”
In scenes reminiscent of the WWE, domestic contender Benn, who boxes at welterweight, rushed ringside after the fight to literally butt heads with Eubank Jr and issue a challenge after tweeting from the top spot : “I promise you I will know this idiot within 3 rounds. .”
It was great theatre, but if the bout is to take place on home soil, 28-year-old Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) will need to be cleared to box after being stripped of his license by the British Boxing Board of Control after ‘ a failed drug test that derailed the Eubank Jr. two years ago.
