Chris Eubank Jr beats James DeGale on points in London

Scorecards reading 114-112, 115-112 and 117-109 underlined his superiority over DeGale, around whom serious questions will now hover when it comes to what remains of his career in the sport.

Eubank started the fight with greater poise than he'd shown at any stage during a previous, damaging defeat to George Groves, before stepping up the tempo and sending DeGale to the canvas in the second.

Slowly, DeGale worked his way back into the fight but a second knockdown in the 10th put Eubank in the ascendancy once more, and while docked a point in the 11th for slamming his opponent to the floor, the younger man had more than enough in hand.

DeGale, whose only previous professional defeats had come to Groves and American Caleb Truax, could not find the knockout blow he required at the end of a scrappy but engrossing affair, and was beaten overwhelmingly on the cards.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for the Olympic gold medal winner, with retirement a possibility, but for Eubank opportunities will surely now open up after what had been billed as a make-or-break showdown which neither could afford to lose.

DeGale had looked a shadow of the boxer who won Olympic gold in 2008 and two IBF world super-middleweight titles.

The 33-year-old told ITV Box Office: "I'm going to go back, talk to my team and talk to my family.

"I've been to the heights of boxing, I've won an Olympic gold medal, won the world title twice, made history and I've boxed the best around the world.

"I've left my mark in boxing. Chris is tough, he is a good prospect, he was on it. I just didn't do enough. There are a lot of wild punches, punches I didn't see. He was nicking the rounds and I just didn't do enough."

Eubank Jr told talkSPORT: "I'm back on top. I proved the doubters wrong.

"This is one of those fights which puts me in position to challenge for world titles now and I'm very happy.

"There was massive pressure. We were both on the edge of this cliff and someone was going to fall - and whoever falls can't come back. I'm still here now, onwards and upwards.

"He's a difficult fighter but I thought I dominated the entire fight."