Eubank was fighting in Newcastle after his two previous planned opponents had dropped out of facing him a couple of weeks ago, leaving him to face his Armenian rival at short notice.

A succession of heavy blows, which Eubank claimed broke at least one rib of Awdijan, meant that the Germany-based boxer could not continue past five rounds.

Speaking after the fight, the 32-year-old victor ran through his options.

Asked who he wants next, he said: “Anybody with a world title, anything the fans want to see me fight…

“A guy that keeps popping up is Liam Williams. Everyone seems to want that fight for me, so that’s an option. You’ve got that rat Saunders running around. He wants to fight me for five mil [£5million].

“The options are endless. All I know, from December, big names, it’s gonna be a hell of a 12 months.”