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Rugby star Quade Cooper wins third professional fight with brutal stoppage
By Peter Thompson
Rugby union star Quade Cooper made it three wins from as many professional fights with a second-round stoppage of Jack McInnes on Friday.
The Australia fly-half had spoken about how fear of a humiliating loss had been fuelling his desire as he once again prepared to swap to the rugby pitch for the boxing ring.
However, there was never any danger of that happening as McInnes – who had been roundly ridiculed on social media before the cruiserweight bout after photos appeared of him looking out of shape – was floored in the second.
Cooper, who was roundly booed before and after the fight, went through the motions in the first round as, to his credit, McInnes absorbed plenty of punishment to make it to the bell.
But in the second, Cooper quickly had McInnes against the ropes and one particularly fierce blow brought his opponent to his knees and an end to the contest.
The Reds back – who was given a good luck message from IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua – was fighting on the undercard of the eagerly awaited rematch between bitter rivals Anthony Mundine and Danny Green.
Made my day much love to the champ @anthony_joshua
A video posted by Quade Cooper (@quadecooper) on Feb 3, 2017 at 2:22am PST
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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