If professional success comes to Denys Berinchyk, it is coming late, as the former Ukrainian amateur star won the European lightweight title with a wide unanimous decision over France’s Yvan Mendy on the Fury-Chisora bill in Tottenham.

Ten years ago, Berinchyk was part of the dazzling Ukrainian team at the London Olympics that included Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko. He won a silver medal at light-welterweight, but, at 34, progress has been slow as a professional, despite being unbeaten, and he has boxed mostly in his homeland. Things may move quicker now he has agreed a promotional deal with Queensberry.

He was well worth his win over Mendy, setting a furious pace as he put pressure on the Frenchman from the start. And while Mendy had his moments in the middle rounds, Berinchyk looks like he has some big nights ahead.

Mendy is best remembered in the UK for his two fights with Luke Campbell. The Frenchman became the first boxer to beat Campbell as a professional in 2015, but lost a rematch at Wembley Stadium in 2018. Since then, Mendy had won seven in a row, winning the European title in April.

Berinchyk, who had come to the ring in military fatigues in tribute to his country’s armed forces, started fast making Mendy work harder than he wanted and forcing the Frenchman backwards as he swarmed over him.

There was more of the same in the second, but Mendy, 37, found his feet in the third round as he caught Berinchyk early on and began to show the Ukrainian some different angles. But Berinchyk got back on top in the fourth round, as he landed some good hooks around the side of Mendy’s guard and kept the pressure on.

Berinchyk dominated the fifth, but there was more success for Mendy in the sixth and seventh rounds, as he managed to box well behind a high guard and force Berinchyk backwards, picking him off.

The fight swung back towards Berinchyk in the eighth as the Ukrainian landed the more solid shots up close. The ninth was fought at a furious pace, with Berinchyk coming forward and Mendy battling to hold his ground.

Berinchyk was well on top in the tenth, putting Mendy under constant pressure, while Mendy put a lot of effort into the eleventh round, success was limited. He tried coming forward in the ast, but Berinchyk kept working hard and got the better of some big exchanges at the final bell.

Victor Loughlin scored it 117-111, while Keran McCann and Kevin Parker had it 116-112. Mendy looked crestfallen but Berinchyk looked a handy winner.

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.