Conor Benn beat a subdued Chris Eubank Jr in decisive fashion on a strange night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
From the very first bell, Benn was faster and more aggressive than his opponent, who was a pale shadow of the boxer who had appeared the vastly superior technician when first these two famous names met.
On that night it was Eubank Jr who dominated and while Benn had impressed many observes in an excellent bout, few if any of them could've predicted what unfolded on Saturday.
Benn, lively and aggressive as anticipated, was also able to dominate at range despite being the naturally smaller man, leaving pundits wondering whether Eubank Jr's preparation had suffered a setback.
Only briefly in rounds eight and nine did Eubank Jr offer anything substantive, but too often his punches lacked pop and his demeanour was that of a man waiting for defeat to arrive rather than trying to fend it off.
Benn was also smart, refusing even his corner's pleas to increase the intensity and end the fight early, which surely he could have done.
In the end he did have Eubank Jr to the canvas, but it was at the end of the final round and with less than a minute remaining when the two-punch combination landed, the bell came just in time for Eubank Jr.
The judges' scores read 119-107, 116-110 and 118-108 in favour of Benn, the narrowest of those surely flattering to the beaten Eubank Jr.
The series between these sons of two great fighters now stands at one apiece and yet, on the evidence of this fight, the case for a trilogy might be hard to make.
