Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan forced to retire after battle with Chris Eubank Jr

By Padraig Hoare

Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan has lost his final eliminator for the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title against Chris Eubank Jr after being pulled out by his corner at the end of the seventh round.

The fight surpassed all expectations with some brutal punishment taken by both men in an absolute war while it lasted.

The son of the legendary Chris Eubank began to pull away from the Mahon star from the fourth round, inflicting spiteful punches with both hands and Spike coming under serious assault from heavy artillery.

To his credit, Spike showed extraordinary courage, heart and a chin of granite before his trainer Paschal Collins pulled his man out at the end of the seventh.

The winner improves his record to 21-1, while the Corkman drops to 22-2.

The build-up to the fight saw some of the bitterest personal enmity between two fighters for some time and was three years in the making as Spike constantly called out Eubank on social media, taunting him and demanding the fight be made.

It showed in the action as the fight was fought on raw emotion and little defensive action from both men. The fight exploded into life in the second round and had constant action until the end came.

Spike was gracious in defeat, saying the better man won and that he was well behind when the fight ended.

The victor will now focus on a WBA middleweight title clash with champion Daniel Jacobs, who destroyed previous Andy Lee foe Peter Quillin inside a round in Brooklyn to retain his title earlier this month.

The champion, known as Miracle Man after beating bone cancer in 2011, is just one of a host of fearsome punchers in the middleweight division with 28 of his 31 wins coming by stoppage.

Kazakh knockout specialist Gennady Golovkin is seen as the current pound-for-pound king of prizefighting having bludgeoned 31 of his 34 opponents early, amassing the highest knockout percentage in middleweight history.

Ireland’s Andy Lee will take on Billy Joe Saunders next Saturday for Lee’s World Boxing Organisation (WBO) middleweight title, live on specialist boxing channel Box Nation.

Saunders has victories over Spike O’Sullivan and Chris Eubank Jr in his professional career.