Before that, a lengthy undercard gives some of Ireland’s and Britain’s the chance to shine.

Steven Cairns, “The Irish Takeover,” remained unbeaten with an impressive fifth-round knockout of Senan Kelly.

An extremely hard puncher, Cairns (15-0, 10 KOs) left Cork to train with Dave Coldwell in South Yorkshire five years ago and his hard work is finally starting to bear fruit.

Kelly (12-2, 2 KOs) has spent most of his career fighting at welterweight, but Cairns, 24, looked perfectly at home at a 138-pound catchweight, calm and composed as he baited Kelly to make a mistake.

Cairns is a sharp, efficient punch-picker but makes sure to always stay busy with his feints and footwork. Kelly seemed reluctant to open himself up to any quick counterpunches.

In the third, a solid body shot finally gave Cairns something to think about, but he quickly recalibrated and scored with an accurate jab and a perfectly timed right hand.

A fourth-round clash of heads left Cairns with a cut over his left eye, but it barely affected him and he dropped Kelly with a picture-perfect left hook at the start of the fifth. Kelly got up but Cairns cut loose. Although Kelly managed to avoid any major shots, the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

The stoppage may have been premature, but it saved Kelly from a much heavier defeat.

Ben Fail got the televised portion of the Queensberry card off and running with a spectacular knockout of Dublin’s Craig O’Brien at junior middleweight.

Totally unfazed by the prospect of fighting on away soil, the tall, 29-year-old southpaw from Northampton took over immediately and fired in a series of left hands to the body as he tried to make O’Brien (15-5, 2 KOs) feel every one of his 36 years.

O’Brien quickly resorted to moving and fighting in flurries, and the tactic worked in the third as Fail kept his hands in his pocket and followed.

The effort was clearly taking its toll on O’Brien and his movement became more frantic and ragged. Fail pressed forward relentlessly and re-established control in the fourth, but it was still a surprise when he brought the fight to a brutal finish with a single well-timed left hand as the fifth round drew to a close.

Fail (12-0, 7 KOs) made things more difficult for himself than they needed to be, but the finish was outstanding.

As Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua prepare to bring one era of heavyweight boxing to an end, the search is on for young heavyweights capable of filling their very sizeable shoes.

Adam Olaniyan (3-0, 3 KOs) seems certain to be a major player in the future.

Olaniyan won seven National titles and a World Youth gold medal as an amateur and was far too good for late substitute Deepak Pathak (1-6, 1 KO).

Earlier this week, Olaniyan told The Ring that he likes the nasty streak he is developing under his trainer, Paul Stevenson, at Everton Red Triangle gym in Liverpool. Although the fight lasted less than two rounds, he hurt Pathak at distance and up close and punished him to head and body.

Early in the second round, a lead right hand eventually broke Pathak’s resistance and he dropped to the canvas with blood pouring from his nose. He got up, but the referee decided he was in no position to continue and stopped the fight.

The 20-year-old from the outskirts of Dublin wants to harness the support of Irish fight fans and he will next appear on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s farewell fight at cavernous Croke Park in September.