Chris Eubank Jr was once floored in three seconds by bare-knuckle boxing champion | Boxing | Sport

Chris Eubank Jr has always been hailed for his iron chin. During a 12-year stint in the paid ranks, he has never been knocked down by any one of his professional opponents.

However, the same can’t be said for his amateur career. Back in May 2011, Eubank Jr was sent tumbling to the canvas by Lincoln puncher Nathan Decastro inside the first three seconds of their contest at the Yarborough Leisure Centre in Decastro’s hometown.

Eubank Jr would go on to win the fight via decision, but Decastro would earn the plaudits for being the only man to ever deck the Brighton boxing star.

“It was a good fight, I sold a thousand tickets, it was meant to be a five hundred capacity and there were a thousand people in there,” Decastro told Express Sport. “One of the biggest shows Lincoln has ever seen. I wasn’t expecting a lot from it really besides it being a fight and I got in there and had a good ding-dong with him. I put him down in the first round, but they gave him the nod in the end.

After a 100-fight amateur boxing career, Decastro turned over as a professional going 16-0 before having his license revoked by the board due to his eye condition, retinitis pigmentosa. In 2021, he made his bare-knuckle boxing debut with leading promotion BKBtm and has enjoyed great successes with the company, winning the BKBtm British title in only his second fight.

He is now scheduled to face America’s Mattia Fonda at the O2 Indigo Arena on March 26 in his fifth outing under the promotional banner (2-2). Meanwhile, Eubank Jr squares off against former WBO light-welterweight champion Liam Smith this weekend in Manchester.

When asked who he thought will win the domestic dust-up, Decastro said: “Eubank will beat Smith. I think he’s fresher, Smith’s had a hard career. If you look at their common opponent as well, Liam Williams, Eubank smashed Liam Williams and Smith struggled with him twice.

“It wasn’t the proper Williams in there against Eubank, but he still smashed him, didn’t he? So, I think Eubank will win on a points decision or maybe a late stoppage.”