First round knockout for Kash Ali – but retirement for James DeGale?

Big-banging heavyweight Kash Ali warmed up for his career-defining fight with David Price, with a thundering first-round knockout.
Kash AliKash Ali
Kash Ali

The Rotherham fighter dispensed with Hertfordshire's Colin 'Butch' Goldhawk at Aston Villa's ground.

It clears the way for his battle with former  British, English, and Commonwealth champion Price at the Echo Arena, Liverpool on March 30.

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Meanwhile James DeGale will consider retirement after losing his grudge match with Chris Eubank Jnr at The O2 Arena in London.

The Olympic gold medallist and former IBF super-middleweight champion demonstrated further signs of decline as he lost for the third time as a professional, and against an opponent he would have expected to convincingly outbox at his peak.

For all that the 29-year-old Eubank Jnr has improved, perhaps partly owing to recruiting the previously little-known Nate Vasquez as his trainer, DeGale again struggled to convince throughout a fight he had previously said would leave the loser with little choice but to retire.

There a few lucrative options left for him to pursue - unlike his rival, who has revived his career with his finest ever victory - and having become Britain's first Olympic gold medallist to win a professional world title, he insisted he had "made his mark".

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After his unanimous decision defeat, via scores of 114-112, 115-112 and 117-109, the 33-year- old DeGale said: "I've left my mark in boxing. Olympic gold, two world titles, but Chris performed well. I just didn't do enough but when you're in there with wild punches.

"I just didn't do enough. I'm going to go back, talk to my team, my family, but I'm pretty sure. I've been to the heights in boxing, I'm the history man; if I call it a day now, that's nice."