Rugby star Quade Cooper wins third professional fight with brutal stoppage

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