Boxing result: Chris Eubank Jr stuns James DeGale with convincing points victory at O2 Arena
DeGale now looks set to call it a day after losing what he dubbed the 'retirement fight'
Chris Eubank Jr knocked James DeGale down twice during a dominant victory on points at the O2 Arena on Saturday night.
The super-middleweight grudge match was won by the younger man, as his elder looked a shadow of his former self and is now on the verge of retirement.
DeGale began the bout positively and appeared in control in the opening three minutes, however this momentum didn't last.
In the second round, a ferocious assault from Eubank Jr had his opponent down on the canvas, slumped in his corner.
DeGale recovered to his feet and boxed well to survive the rest of the early rounds, though his style began to frustrate the London crowd as he continually tied up his opponent.
There were more verbals exchanged than punches in some of the middle sessions and Eubank Jr continued to rack up points on sheer work rate alone.
A pattern emerged between the seventh and ninth as the first two minutes of each round remained quiet until Chris Jr upped the tempo enough to snatch the points in the final 60 seconds.
At the end of the tenth round, one of Eubank Jr's flurrying punches landed to devastating effect.
The Brighton man found a left hook to put his opponent on unsteady legs and then piled on the pressure, once again forcing him to touch down.
In an unorthodox move, Eubank Jr opted to pick up DeGale and body slam him down to the canvas in the eleventh - a move which saw him deducted a point.
It wasn't to matter, as the three judges still all scored the bout in his favour 114-112, 115-112, 117-109.
In his post-fight interview Eubank Jr declared: “I'm coming for all the other belts in the super-middleweight or the middleweight division.
“I knew that he was gonna come in there and run. He's a very slick southpaw. But the game plan worked. Smart pressure.
“I dominated pretty much every single round. People said I was gonna have my head jabbed off, I proved those guys wrong tonight.”
LATEST BOXING NEWS
When asked for his own analysis of the evening, DeGale said: "I didn't do enough, I just didn't do enough. When you're in there with someone like Chris on you.
“I'll have to go back and watch it. I just didn't do enough.
About the possibility of retirement, he added: “I'mma go back, talk to my team, talk to my family. I've been to the highest of the highest in boxing, if I call it a day now, I'm good.”
Earlier in the night, Joe Joyce knocked out Bermane Stiverne in an eliminator for the WBA 'regular' heavyweight title.
Lee Selby also returned to action on the undercard, defeating Omar Douglas by decision at lightweight.