Chris Eubank Jr vs Gary O'Sullivan

Eubank the Younger was allowed to indulge himself in seven rounds of target practice before Spike the Fighting Irishman was pulled out of the firing line by his compassionate corner-men.

What had been billed as boxing's answer to the Gunfight at the OK Corral turned into a turkey shoot as Chris Eubank Jnr threw punches at Spike O'Sullivan with the frequency of an assault weapon.

Quite how much this proved about Eubank's improvement is awkward to gauge since this apparent final eliminator for Terry Flanagan's WBA world middleweight title was as one-side as many of us expected.

The only surprise was that Eubank was unable to remove O'Sullivan before his handlers asked referee Terry O'Conner to halt the beating.

O'Sullivan continued his clowning of the pre-fight build up into the 02 Arena but when he laughed and put his hands behind his back, Eubank rebuked him with a left hook to the chin.

That was just one of hundreds of blows with which Eubank punished O'Sullivan for impudently kissing him at the weigh-on.

Eubank was fit, strong and intent on starting faster than in his solitary career defeat, by Billy Joe Saunders.

But pounding away at a human punch-bag was not much more revealing than a hard day's work-out in the gym.

However, if there were any doubts about his chin they were set aside as he took the three big shots which Spike the Puncher landed.

Two of those came in the only round it was remotely possible to award to O'Sullivan.

The others were won by landlsided by the son of Eubank Senior, one of them an avalance which I scored 10-8 in his favour.

Tougher tests await and Eubank is unlikely to have an easier fight on his stairway to the stars.

But he is climbing quickly.