Harlem Eubank will target a return to world level after comprehensively outboxing Canada’s Josh Wagner.

After 10 one-sided rounds, the British welterweight was awarded a wide unanimous decision. The scores were 99-91 and 100-90 twice.

Eubank (22-1, 9 KOs) stepped up to world class for the first time this past July, but an ugly clash of heads brought his messy fight with Jack Catterall to a premature end.

That fight never caught fire. Catterall suffered a horrendous cut but at least had the satisfaction of escaping with a technical decision victory. Last weekend, he stopped Ekow Essuman on the undercard of the massive rematch between Conor Benn and Harlem’s cousin, Chris Eubank Jr., at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Harlem Eubank will have to earn another chance at the highest level and started his rebuild by returning home to the Brighton Centre and cruising to victory over a disappointing Wagner (19-2, 10 KOs).

Wagner, 146.8 pounds, smiled his way through the opening round but although he was clearly the bigger man, Eubank, 146.5 pounds, was much faster.

Rather than opening up and leaving gaps, Wagner rationed his attacks. He landed a nice right hand in the opener and a left hook in the second but struggled to land consistently on the constantly moving Eubank, who darted in and out, stabbed to the body with his jab and put in the occasional right hand.

The smile had left Wagner’s bloodied face by the fourth. A confident Eubank had found his rhythm and timing.

Standing right in front of Wagner, Eubank used his feints and footwork to prevent Wagner from throwing anything other than single shots, and his jab was a fast, accurate weapon which set up the overhand right.

Wagner briefly tried to change the course of the fight in the sixth but was quickly put back in his box.

Aware that a major opportunity was slipping away, Wagner finally upped the tempo in the eighth, but came off second best in a couple of exchanges and a solid Eubank right hand seemed to sap any remaining enthusiasm.

Although he was fully in control, Eubank chose not to take any unnecessary risks. He jabbed, feinted and landed overhand rights as a demoralised Wagner waited for the final bell.

Lucas Roehrig opened the television broadcast with an eight-round decision win over Brice Clavier.

Trained and managed by former WBA super middleweight world champion, George Groves, the 22-year-old cruiserweight from London had his hands full from the opening bell.

He was dropped by a left hook in the opening round a split second after the referee called break, but he was tagged time and time again by the crude, but ambitious Frenchman.

Roehrig (7-0, 3 KOs) was credited with a knockdown in the second round when he bundled Clavier (13-7-1, 7 KOs) over with a left hook of his own but scored a cleaner knockdown in the fourth when he hurt Clavier with a short body shot. Although Roehrig managed to establish a measure of control, he finished the fight with a cut over his left eye and lost a point in the final round for a low blow.

The referee scored the fight 78-72 in Roehrig’s favour, but the wide score disguises how hard Roehrig had to work.