Chris Eubank Jr wins IBO super-middleweight title after beating Renold Quinlan with 10th-round stoppage

Eubank Jr struggled to break Quinlan down until the second half of the fight and the tiring Australian saw his hopes end with a stoppage in the 10th round

Eubank Jr shows off his IBO super-middleweight championship (Getty)

Chris Eubank Jr has moved into contention for a world title fight later this year after stopping Australia's Renold Quinlan in 10 rounds at London's Olympia.

The victory - in his maiden fight at super-middleweight and the first on the new ITV Box Office platform - saw the 27-year-old win the lightly regarded IBO belt he claims should be treated as a true world title.

It remains to be seen whether he will return to middleweight or remain at 168lbs, but there is little question greater tests than the little-known Quinlan await.

The opening exchanges showed the Australian, also 27, to at least be as fast as his challenger.

It took until the end of the third round for Eubank Jr to begin to impose himself when landing numerous punches as they fought on the inside by the ropes, and until a left hook in the fourth for Quinlan, also 27, to briefly appear hurt.

A lack of true power has undermined Eubank Jr in many of his previous fights, and it again appeared that would be the case until the sixth, when first an uppercut, then a right hook and finally a hurtful barrage left his opponent troubled.

From the seventh, and after taking further left-right combinations, Quinlan was a fighter being worn down and content to survive.

The eighth and ninth became increasingly one-sided, as the aggressive Briton landed with ease and the resilient Australian clung on in a period when referee Howard Foster should have waved the action over.

The 10th remained similarly damaging until, with the tough Quinlan no longer able to defend himself from Eubank Jr's latest barrage, Foster ended the fight after two minutes and seven seconds to protect him from further punishment.

Chris Eubank Jr defeated Renold Quinlan to win the IBO super-middleweight title (Getty)

Victory at super-middleweight means George Groves and James DeGale have joined Billy Joe Saunders as domestic rivals, and it is hoped will lead to a significant fight in the coming months.

The once-promising David Price's career was earlier left in ruins after his latest stoppage defeat, this time by Romania's Christian Hammer.

Eubank Jr is eyeing fights with domestic rivals George Groves, Billy Joe Saunders and James DeGale (Getty)

Price, 33, has now been stopped four times, and will hereafter struggle to rebuild his reputation, despite the previous two coming against opponents it later emerged had failed drug tests.

He was exceptionally close to winning a competitive affair in the fifth when he knocked Hammer down with a right uppercut at the end of a hurtful combination.

Chris Eubank watches his son from ringside (Getty)

Hammer, who lost to Tyson Fury in 2015, responded in the sixth, before forcing referee Phil Edwards to intervene after 82 seconds with the tiring Price defenceless following a lengthy barrage against the ropes.

John Ryder had revived his career with his finest win to date when he outpointed domestic rival Adam Etches at super-middleweight.

He consistently outworked and outboxed the out-of-shape Etches, who perhaps should have been pulled out at the end of the 10th round as the cut surrounding his left eye worsened.

Ryder, 28 and fighting for the first time at super-middleweight, was scored a 117-111, 116-112 and 118-109 winner.

Chris Eubank Jr celebrates his victory over Renold Quinlan (Getty)

There was also a victory for Kid Galahad, who beat his underwhelming late replacement Leonel Hernandez in three rounds at featherweight after the Nicaraguan retired with an eye injury. He had been scheduled to fight Ghana's former world champion Joseph Agbeko until his withdrawal through illness.

Finally, 2012 Olympian Andrew Selby - the younger brother of Wales' IBF featherweight champion Lee - impressed in earning a unanimous decision at flyweight over Ardin Diale of the Philippines via scores of 100-90 on the three judges' scorecards.

PA