In a crossroads bout Saturday night, Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan took a significant step forward.

The fringe middleweight contender battered Nick Quigley en route to a fourth-round technical knockout victory before a partisan crowd at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts.

O’Sullivan (26-2, 18 knockouts) has now won his last four bouts since a seventh-round knockout loss to Chris Eubank Jr. in December 2015.

Both fighters went on the attack from the opening bell, bruising and bloodying each other on the inside. O’Sullivan’s punches began to take their toll midway through the third round and one debilitating left hook to the stomach sent Quigley reeling.

Quigley (15-3, 3 KOs), who hails from Liverpool, England, attempted to fight back in Round 4, but O’Sullivan’s punches easily split the guard and drew blood from his nose. A right cross to the head was enough for referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to step in and stop the bout at 1:23.

According to punch stats, O’Sullivan connected on 152 of 370 total punches (41 percent). Quigley, who had his five-bout winning streak snapped, landed 108 of 384 total punches (28 percent).

Originally from Cork, Ireland, O’Sullivan has fought predominantly in the New England area over the last three years.

“This is my seventh time fighting in Boston and it has truly turned into my second home,” said O’Sullivan after the fight. “I was surprised by Quigley’s power as he was very strong and delivered clean shots. It was a fight full of action. Quigley and I traded a lot of shots and that’s the only way I could take the victory.”

UNDERCARD

In the co-feature, junior lightweight Dardan Zenunaj (14-3, 11 KOs) stopped Recky Dulay in Round 3.

Zenunaj, an Albanian who now resides in the Los Angeles area, dropped Delay (10-3, 7 KOs) twice in the opening round. The Filipino bravely attempted to press the bout but was pummeled repeatedly.

Completely dominant, Zenunaj dropped Dulay again in Round 3, prompting referee Gene Del Bianco to stop the bout at 1:50.

“I knew Recky is a hard-puncher and that I had to watch his right (hand),” said Zenunaj after the fight. “But I knew if I broke him down, he would lose his power.”

Lightweight Everton Lopes (6-0, 2 KOs), who represented Brazil at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, won a six-round unanimous decision over Rafael Reyes (7-12, 5 KOs). The official scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56.

Junior middleweight Casey Kramlich (8-1-1, 4 KOs) suffered his first defeat as a pro, losing to Greg Vendetti (16-2-1, 10 KOs) by unanimous decision over eight rounds. Scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73 for Vendetti, who has now won his last 12 bouts.

The ‘Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN’ telecast aired live on ESPN Deportes and on ESPN3.com.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing