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Boxing

17th Sep 2018

Irish champion JJ McDonagh books huge fight against Chris Eubank Jr

They're former sparring partners

Ben Kiely

JJ McDonagh

JJ McDonagh has been handed the opportunity of a lifetime.

Irish super-middleweight champion JJ McDonagh will fight Chris Eubank Jr on 28 September. The bout will take place at the Indoor Sports Hall at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It will take place on the undercard of the final of the World Boxing Super Series between George Groves and Callum Smith.

Both men enter into this bout off the back of losses.

In Eubank Jr’s (26-2, 20 KOs) most recent outing, he was beaten by Groves in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Series. He lost a unanimous decision to the WBA super-middleweight champion.

Mullingar’s McDonagh 16-4 (8 KOs) also lost his most recent outing. He was on the wrong side of a three-round unanimous decision to Roy Sheehan in the semi-finals of the Last Man Standing competition. Sheehan went onto win the one-night tournament in Tallaght. However, Mullingar’s McDonagh scored a phenomenal knockout of Gerard Healy in the quarter-final stage.

In 2016, McDonagh won two titles. His points win over Darren Cruise saw him become the Irish super-middleweight champion. He also won the vacant WBA International light-heavyweight title by stunning then-undefeated Jake Ball with a ferocious first-round knockout.

A 10,000 capacity crowd is expected for Groves vs Smith. An eye-catching performance by Eubank may force his way back into world title contention.

For McDonagh, he has the chance to really upset the odds. He will enter into this one as a heavy underdog. A win would do untold things for him. It would undoubtedly be the biggest scalp of his career.