Tyson Fury shrugged off a chest infection and scored a dominant win over Dereck Chisora which paved the way for a world title tilt against Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury revealed he had been close to withdrawing from the bout after being prevented from training for three weeks, but still cruised past Chisora, who was pulled out at the end of round 10.
It marked Fury's second win over Chisora in three years and earned him the European title, as well as regaining the vacant British crown.
Afterwards promoter Frank Warren said of a prospective fight with Klitschko: "It will happen.
"The WBO have mandated it will happen. Klitschko's next fight is in March and after that there's 30 days for us to negotiate with him.
"The fight will be against Tyson Fury. He goes in as the number one mandatory challenger for the WBO title."
Chisora had lost almost every round of a low-key affair, with some boos drifting around the ExCel Arena audience prior to the fight's conclusion.
It represented Fury's 23rd straight professional win, and his trainer and uncle Peter Fury insisted: "Tyson will bring back a world title for Britain.
"Tyson is majorly talented and people need to wake up. Just because he's 6ft 9, looks a bit clumsy now and then, goes in swinging when he hasn't got his trainer in the corner – Tyson is a serious threat on a world level."
One year later, Fury would stun Klitschko in Dusseldorf to claim the world titles, which he would subsequently regain after a much-documented battle with mental health issues.
Chisora would also continue to campaign at the top level but suffered two defeats to domestic rival Dillian Whyte and most recently, to Ukrainian rising star Oleksandr Usyk in London.
