Chris Eubank Jnr beats Tom Doran to retain British middleweight title

Victory also represented the first defence of the British middleweight title he dramatically won from Blackwell in March.

The 26-year-old had spoken in the week of his determination to show the previously-undefeated Doran "no mercy", to prove he had not been affected by leaving Blackwell in an induced coma and fighting for his life. Blackwell has since recovered but will not box again.

Eubank's decorated father accepts he lost his own ruthlessness after leaving Michael Watson with near-fatal brain injuries in 1991, but if Eubank Jnr has lost any of his desire it did not show.

While he hurt Doran with single shots in the opening two rounds, he again frustrated in taking unnecessary punches by leaving himself wide open. He also again showed a lack of true power by not finishing his challenger when hurting him in the third.

As has been seen before in Eubank Jnr's career, including against Blackwell, even lengthy periods of unanswered punches leave his tougher opponents able to continue. A right hook to Doran's body sent him to the canvas, but several further head shots followed before the end of the round.

He dropped Doran again shortly into the fourth with a powerful combination, as he also did swiftly after by following an uppercut with a left hook.

A period of unnecessary showboating followed when Eubank Jnr shook both his head and shoulders in a taunt of his opponent, before a right uppercut forced referee Marcus McDonnell to wave the action over after two minutes and 35 seconds.

Dillian Whyte earlier stopped Ivica Bacurin in six rounds in his first fight back since his defeat by Anthony Joshua in December.

The promising heavyweight was also fighting for the first time since joining promoters Matchroom and having surgery on his left shoulder.

During a laboured performance, he put the unambitious Croatian to the canvas in the sixth in what was not ruled a knockdown, before a big right to the head sent Bacurin to his knees and concluded the action after two minutes and eight seconds.

There was also a third win from three for Nigel Benn's son Conor.

The 19-year-old sent the Czech Republic's Lukas Radic through the ropes with a first-round left hook, before securing his second stoppage win with a heavy knockout from a right hook shortly after.

George Groves impressively revived his career with one of his finest wins by earning a unanimous decision victory over fellow Englishman Martin Murray.

The three judges scored him a 118-110 winner as his superior speed and variety ensured he outboxed his game opponent, taking him closer to a fourth world title fight.

It also leaves Murray facing a significant challenge in rebuilding his reputation, let alone achieving his ambition of becoming a world champion.

Murray's greatest chance of victory came in fighting with a high intensity from the start and avoiding the negativity that cost him in world title fights with Felix Sturm and Arthur Abraham.

He appeared to lose the opening three, however, owing to Groves' superior aggression, accuracy and ambition in landing combinations, before a cut opened over Groves' right eye in the fourth that threatened to change the fight's direction.

Murray swiftly followed that success by landing with a big right hand, when reminders of two of Groves vulnerabilities - his punch resistance and propensity to cut - were again present.

It was in the sixth, as Groves' boxing began to lack the fluidness of the opening rounds, that the most competitive of contests began to unfold. He took an increasing number of right hands, and while landing several of his own, Murray's toughness suggested they had less impact.

The 33-year-old Murray was more fortunate when hurt by a powerful right from Groves that left him unsteady but that came at the end of the seventh.

However, even with his time to recover it almost proved Groves' breakthrough. Only his impressive punch resistance kept him upright while taking numerous further big rights, and after a straight right at the end of the ninth his knee appeared to buckle as low as the canvas.

What could have been ruled a knockdown and a round scored 10-8 for Groves regardless ended with Murray looking in trouble, yet this time he made a more convincing recovery and landed several hurtful head shots that left Groves unsteady.

Murray had little choice but to ensure the fight remained competitive towards its conclusion, but as Groves was cheered on and given instructions by David Haye from ringside, he twice came close to forcing a 12th-round stoppage as his superior skill-set ultimately told.

For Murray, the fight took him further from the world title he has long wanted and perhaps looking at the end of his career at the highest level, even if the 11-round beating he took from Gennady Golovkin has left him with much to offer.

The victory was Groves' third from three under new trainer Shane McGuigan, and suggested he has rediscovered the sharpness and mobility that had been missing since the second of his defeats to Carl Froch.