The ease at which he surgically took apart Paulinus Ndjolonimu (20-2, 18 KOs) in front of a raucous home crowd at the Sydbank Arena in Kolding, Denmark, reinforced the belief he's ready for sterner challenges now.

Bank (19-0, 11 KOs) didn't lose a minute, let alone a round before flooring the Namibian with a body shot he simply couldn't recover from. Curled up in the corner, the 38-year-old failed to beat referee Ali Oubaali's count and a man 13 years his junior justified the hype that has him currently ranked No. 9 at super middleweight by The Ring.

Bank boxed and moved behind his jab early, bobbing and weaving away from the visitor's forward flurries before investing in body work and negating Ndjolonimu's forward flurries staying light on his feet.

Ndjolonimu was still catching him upon occasion with the Dane's hands low, though the fan favorite stepped on the accelerator in round four before a conclusive finish in the subsequent stanza.

He invited danger to deliver the final blow, but chained together a series of three-punch combinations and walked Ndjolonimu down before finding the stoppage as the veteran remained on his haunches and Kolding could rejoice.

"He has hands like a hammer, he can punch," Bank said in his post-fight interview before doubling down on what he wants next.

"Everybody knows, I'm ready for the top. Give me the chance for a title fight. I'm ready."

This might have been Ndjolonimu's last chance at a big fight with life-changing circumstances, but Bank set about him with an urgency and punch variety that showed they were boxing at two different levels on the night.

Canada-based French puncher Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) currently holds the WBC strap after being elevated from interim champion in January, though speculation suggests he'll make the first defense of his title against former undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) in Saudi Arabia on September 12.