By Elliot Foster

Chris Eubank Jr. is in it to win it.

That, it seems, was the message coming from the once-defeated IBO super-middleweight champion.

Eubank Jr. booked his place in the World Boxing Super Series semi-finals with an emphatic, brutal performance against Avni Yildirim in Stuttgart, exclusively live on ITV Box Office, on Saturday.

Yildirim, who was firmly backed by the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle crowd, quickly found his feet in the centre of the ring, but was soon dropped by a heavy uppercut from the second generation fighter.

The Turk took a knee to try and catch his breath and seemed to steady himself in a more evenly-matched second round. But Eubank Jr. was consistently landing on Yildirim and the pressure was beginning to tell in the third round.

Stepping onto his front foot and raining heavy hooks and uppercuts to the face of his opponent, 28-year-old Eubank Jr. suddenly burst into life, sensed his opportunity and landed a brutal left hook on the temple of an already dazed Yildirim.

The shot sent Yildirim crashing to the canvas and the referee –– in that aforementioned third stanza –– immediately stepped in to stop the fight with Eubank Jr. standing over his fallen opponent.

“I’m here to dominate this tournament,” said Eubank Jr. after the fight.

“I’m sending a message out there that I’m coming. George Groves, get through your next fight so we can give the boxing fans what they want to see.

“I think it’s going to be exactly the same as what we saw tonight. I’m not playing any more.”

Groves meets Jamie Cox in one of the four super-middleweight quarter-finals, exclusively live on ITV Box Office at a price of £9.99, on Saturday (October 14) at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London, with the winner set for a highly-anticipated showdown with Eubank Jr.