Earlier today at The O2 Arena in London, England, heavyweight contender Tyson Fury took a step closer to a world title fight after defeating Christian Hammer in comfortable fashion, keeping his undefeated record intact with 24 wins. Fury, who entered the bout ranked number 1 by the WBO, dropped Hammer in the fifth round and continued to dominate before the Romanian's corner pulled their fighter out at the end of the 8th.
Fury put his punches together well from range, landing some sharp combinations. When Hammer was able to close the distance, Fury was getting the better of the exchanges with short uppercuts. During the fifth round, he landed a beautiful right hook that caused Hammer to drop to his knees. To his credit, he got up and was abl to survive a barrage of punches to see out the round. It was a relatively uneventful fight. Fury did show excellent footwork though, switching stances between orthodox and southpaw throughout the fight as he changed angles and confused Hammer at times. Fury took to the mic immedaitely after the fight to sing a song to the crowd followed by a roar, "I want Klitschko next"
Prior to that fight, we also saw the return to action for Chris Eubank Jr., who put on a stunning performance in stopping Dmitriy Chudinov in the 12th round to capture the WBA interim middleweight title. This was Eubank's first appearance since his lone career defeat against rival Billie Joe Saunders. Chudinov was game and kept coming forward throughout the fight. It was clear that Eubank intended to start the bout by boxing smartly, but that game plan quickly went out the window thanks to the non-stop pressure of Chudinov. Eubank, however, showed off his brilliant speed and reflexes in the all-out war. Going into the 12th round, it was a complete shut out in favor of Eubank, who proceeded to unload with a number of big shots. The battered and bloodied Chudinov kept coming forward, but was eventually stopped with 40 seconds of the fight remaining when the referee stepped in.