Chris Eubank Jr: Welcome to Hell was a walk in the park - fighting in front of 15,000 gypsies was far more intimidating

A noisy contingent of Turks had whipped up a hostile atmosphere ahead of Eubank Jr's fight with Anvi Yildirim, but the super-middleweight turned on the style and won with ease

Eubank Jr won the fight in the third round (Getty)

In the moments before Chris Eubank Jr emerged to begin his ring walk at the Hans-Martin-Schleyer Halle, his famous father of the same name, told him he had a decision to make before his fight with Anvi Yildirim.

The Eubanks have worked hard to cultivate Junior's image as a true Brit, who flies the flag with pride and always makes his way to the ring draped in the Union Jack.

But after a tempestuous fight week here in Stuttgart, where the city's Turkish population had turned out in their droves to support their previously undefeated countryman, trooping the colour did not seem like such a good idea.

A noisy contingent of Turks had whipped up a hostile atmosphere at Friday's weigh-in, where a banner reading 'welcome to Hell' was unfurled on Eubank's arrival. Senior had even moved the team out of the official fight hotel because he felt 'hostile vibes' in the days preceding the fight.

Even worse, an hour before Eubank was scheduled to walk, around 50 men were involved in a mass brawl in the crowd as motorcycle gangs of Turkish and Albanian descent clashed metres from ringside. Although the violence settled down by the time Eubank was due to walk, it was a tense atmosphere which awaited the visitor from Brighton.

So Eubank Sr thought it might be worth his son eschewing the Union Jack for once, making his way through the throngs without incident before doing the business in the ring. But for Junior, who remained ice cool throughout the week, there was no decision to be made.

“I asked Junior whether he wanted to go with the Union Jack around his shoulder” the dad said.

“I thought that it may be incendiary and cause trouble because there were a lot of patriotic Turkish people here and there has been a lot of controversy stirred up in the days preceding the fight.

“I gave him the choice: do you want to wear the fight hoody or the Union Jack? And, like a trooper, he used the Union Jack and I'm very proud of that. It was his choice and he knew how volatile the crowd could have been.

“He is fierce, relentless and hungry.”

There was never any question Eubank Jr would walk out wearing the flag (Getty)

In the end, the finish, which came after 1:58 of the third round after a crunching left hook, was so conclusive that what had been a baying Turkish mob had no choice but to look on in stunned silence. When the result was officially read out by Jimmy Lennon Jr, their silence turned to loud applause for the Englishman.

“It makes me laugh because I walk into the ring and people in the crowd are booing, hissing and throwing stuff,” Junior said afterwards.

“Then when I walk out, even today, the same people want to take a picture with me. It doesn't mean anything – boxing fans are boxing fans, if you perform and put on a great fight you can't go wrong.”

Eubank is now into the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series (Getty)

There were questions as to how Eubank Jr would handle such a hostile atmosphere on the night, but he said he put up with much worse before his bitter 2014 encounter with Billy Joe Saunders in London.

“There was no comparison there,” he added. “Fighting in front of 15,000 gypsies all rooting for Billy Joe Saunders – you can't top that. Once you've been through something like that this is not quite a walk in the park but it's not something I was fazed by.”

Victory in Stuttgart booked Eubank's place in the World Boxing Super Series semi-final, where he lies in wait for the winner of Saturday's contest between WBA world champion George Groves and Swindon underdog Jamie Cox.

Plenty of respect was shown in the ring after the fight (Getty)

Eubank will be ringside at the Wembley Arena for the contest and is hoping Groves avoids the upset in order to set up what he describes as a 'British superfight' between the pair.

He said: “Me and Groves have a history, a rivalry and the public have been demanding that fight for a number of years now.

“It's never happened but we are at the stage where it could happen in January. As long as he does what he is supposed to do against Jamie Cox then the fans are going to get a British superfight. That's what I've been chasing for a long time and those are what I'm in the sport for.

“I've done my job, now it's his turn to do his. I'll be there watching closely on Saturday and may the best man win but Groves should get through it.

“This isn't about money. It's about respect, belts, legacy and solidifying my name into boxing history.”