It would take some sugar coating to paint the eight rounds Harlem Eubank spent in the ring with France’s Nurali Erdogan last December as anything other than uninspiring.

Really, there shouldn’t be any reason to.

Eubank, 20-0 (8 KOs), returned from an infuriating twelve month lay-off, tested the waters at a new weight and went home with a wide decision victory.

In the past, the frustrating eight rounds would have been hidden away down an undercard and the only people who would have spent any time forensically examining it would have been Eubank and his trainer, Adam Booth.

Instead, the 31 year-old welterweight’s status as a headline attraction on Channel 5 meant that the rust shedding exercise was subjected to the same level of critique as some world title fights.

The criticism all felt a little over the top.

“Well, yeah, that's it. As you develop as a fighter and you get the profile and the audience, people want something to critique. They want something to talk about, whether that's good or bad,” Eubank told The Ring.

“Everything is good attention in the end because they're going to come back and tune in. They're going to see me put in more devastating performances and more electrifying performances in the future so it all comes back around.

“But when people are talking, it's good.”

Eubank might understand the reaction but hasn’t spent too much time worrying about it. The fight was typical of the way his previous twelve months had gone.

He entered 2024 on the back of a career best win over Timo Schwarzkopf but instead wasted months waiting for a proposed fight with Adam Azim to be confirmed. By the time he got into the ring to face Erdogan, more than a year had passed from the win over Schwarzkopf.

“It was just it was just kind of like the cherry on top of a frustrating year,” he said.

“As a fighter, you don't dwell on them things. People come and whatever fashion they try and implement on the fight, it’s about winning the fight and moving on to the next stage to be able to put in them statement performances.

“When you get guys like that, you're not in a position to make a statement.

“No one cares. If you take him out in one round, you're meant to take him out in one round. If you go the distance, you know, whatever. So you just throw it to the side and move on to the next.”

Things will be altogether different when Eubank faces Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna, 24-5-1 (7 KOs), in his hometown of Brighton on Friday night. Channel 5 will broadcast the Wasserman show.

In an era where people regularly bark more aggressively than they bite, McKenna is a rarity in that he always delivers upon his promise to bring aggression.

Earlier this week, the 35 year-old told The Ring that the subtleties of his marauding style are being overlooked but he is smart enough to know that his best route to victory is to answer the opening bell and do exactly what he has been brought in to do; press forward, create excitement and impose himself on Eubank.

After the frustration of the past 16 months, Eubank is looking forward to pitting his wits against an ambitious opponent and showing exactly what he can do.

“Erdogan came to try and spoil a fight. He didn't come to win. Tyrone comes to try and win every single time,” Eubank said.

“That's the difference and that's what makes him a fan favourite. That's what makes him a dangerous fighter. In his last fight he took the guy out in a few rounds so he's definitely in his prime.

“There's a lot of fake hype in the boxing game. With Tyrone, he does what he says he's going to do and that's come to try and bring the war. He comes to bring his best. He comes with that style where he comes to bring it.

“I've dealt with them a lot before. It's nothing that I haven't seen before. The difference with Tyrone is that he's done it over and over again at a high level.

“I'm going to go in there and put on a display.”

Eubank has been on an upward trajectory over the past two years but although solid, accomplished fighters like Tom Farrell and Timo Schwarzkopf posed their own problems, none of his opponents have carried the same threat of violence as McKenna.

Eubank knows that for as long as it lasts, he will be in a real fight on Friday night and he can’t wait.

“You need you need these type of challenges. You need these type of characters to bring the best out of you,” he said.

“That's what's necessary in the sport and that's that's what excites me about this year, because we're starting off with these kind of challenges.

“The preparation in the gym has been second to none so it excites me what I'm going to go in there and do and how I'm developing as a fighter now.”