Riley (15-0, 7 KOs) outboxed and outfought the game Coupe (14-1, 9 KOs) to win a one-sided but entertaining 12-round unanimous decision. The scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109.

Initially, it looked like Riley would be fighting Australia’s David Nykia for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title. With former titleholder and The Ring champion, Jai Opetaia, still embroiled in court proceedings with the governing body after being stripped of the belt, Riley elected to stay busy by defending his EBU cruiserweight title against Coupe.

His promoter, Kalle Sauerland, will now make a case for Riley to be given his world title shot. The 29-year-old Londoner was still happy to have defended his European crown for the first time.

“One thing I want to say is that it’s not up to dispute who the best cruiserweight in Britain is,” said Riley, who is ranked No. 8 by The Ring, No. 2 by the IBF and No. 5 by the WBC. “I am the best cruiserweight in Britain. I am the best cruiserweight in Europe. There’s no back and forth here. Every time I step in the ring, I either finish my opponent or I win by a landslide and that continued today. I just wanted to put that out there. No one can speak to me on these islands or in this continent.”

Riley immediately took the center of the ring against Coupe, and jabbed, feinted and tried to draw a mistake out of the Frenchman. Coupe was unbeaten, but he hadn’t boxed anybody approaching Riley’s level.

He started calmly if negatively. When he did open up, the razor-sharp Riley was able to find an accurate right hand.

In the third, the tall, long Coupe landed a beautifully timed right hand that drew an immediate reaction from Riley. Suddenly, Coupe began to look looser and although he still wasn’t confident enough to take the initiative too often, he was more willing to trade with Riley.

That approach helped Riley. His quick counterpunching enabled him to take advantage of openings he had been struggling to find and Coupe struggled to keep up with him during exchanges.

Riley answered the bell for round six with instructions from his father and trainer, Derrick, to be more aggressive.

Riley isn’t the type to declare war on an opponent, but he did up his output. Coupe finally began to struggle with the increased tempo in the seventh.

Sensing an opening, Riley cut loose in the eighth, but if he expected Coupe to go into his shell, he was mistaken. Coupe bit down on his mouthpiece and fired straight back and the two exchanged numerous big right hands.

Although he had the fight in hand, Riley started to dig in hooks to Coupe’s head and body. He exploded into life in the ninth, when a series of clean shots bounced off Coupe’s chin.

With two rounds to go and a potential world title shot within touching distance, Riley reverted back to his boxing. He remained in control, but he only traded on his own terms and eased his way to the finish line.