Chris Eubank Jr stopped Dmitry Chudinov in the final round of their contest at the O2 Arena in London to win the interim WBA title.
The 25-year-old showed vast improvements and a much higher work rate than in his previous match with Billy Joe Saunders to finally halt a courageous performance from the champion, who withstood severe punishment from the first bell.
Both men started the contest well and there was an argument for the first four rounds being shared, but an accidental headbutt in round two opened up a cut above Chudinov's eye.
The injury did not hinder the Russian, but it encouraged Eubank to unload at will and he dominated the middle rounds as Chudinov absorbed a significant amount of punches.
After passing a doctor's inspection of his eye, Chudinov was allowed to continue, but the shots kept coming from the challenger who, with a considerable points lead, searched for the knockout.
At the start of the last round, Chudinov survived a huge barrage of punches from Eubank, but the British fighter returned with another flurry to force the referee to wave off the fight.
