Kell Brook came through his world title warm-up with a polished, if unspectacular, eighth-round stoppage of courageous Mexican Alvaro Robles at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
Brook is now the mandatory challenger for the IBF welterweight title and will face the winner of Shawn Porter-Paulie Malignaggi in the summer after avoiding a potential banana skin on Saturday.
The unbeaten Sheffield fighter extended his record to 32-0 and recorded his 22nd win inside the distance after Robles' corner stopped the fight midway through the eighth round, with the underdog shipping far too much punishment.
Brook dominated from start to finish but found an opponent who was willing to walk through his best shots in the first half of the fight. The Briton stepped up his performance in the seventh round and landed at will, with Robles attempting to battle back but finding himself outgunned.
"It's getting hard for to get up for these kind of kids now. I've moved on," Brook said on Sky Sports 2.
"It is kind of tough starting from the beginning, a training camp, I was self-motivated for this fight but it's still hard to get up at five and six in the morning. I'm only up for elite fighters.
"I'm happy I got this out of the way, next one for the IBF strap."
The IBF earlier this week ruled that the winner of Porter-Malignaggi must take on Brook within 90 days of their clash on April 19.
"From this, I'm straight back in the gym on Monday, training hard and that's to make sure whoever wins I'm taking the title, no doubt about it," Brook added.
