The Black Cats crashed to a seventh successive league defeat and face almost certain relegation to the Nationwide League after another horror show for their disillusioned supporters.
New boss Mick McCarthy promised no instant cure and so it proved as Bolton cruised to a first away victory since November as they opened up a ten-point gap between themselves and sorry Sunderland.
McCarthy was without suspended Gavin McCann and the injured Jason McAteer, Kevin Kilbane and Jody Craddock and his cause was not helped when full-back Stephen Wright failed to appear for the second half.
Skipper Michael Gray switched to right back and was left totally embarrassed by the pace and skill of Jay Jay Okocha who unleashed a fierce cross-cum-shot in the 50th minute that goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen could only push into the net.
Four minutes later Sorensen made a tremendous save from Per Frandsen only for Joachim Bjorklund to be caught ball-watching as he allowed Henrik Pedersen to steal in on the blindside and shoot into the empty net.
Sean Thornton missed Sunderlands only real chance of an even first half but the double whammy knocked the stuffing out of the home side who battled to the end with substitute Kevin Kyle guilty of a glaring miss in the 82nd minute.
Sorensen denied Frandsen from increasing the lead with a stunning save and at the other end Julio Arca fired straight at Jussi Jaaskelainen with the goal at his mercy.
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce expressed his relief but stressed his side needs at least a point a game to survive.
"That was a fantastic result for us," he said. "I still see it as three from four to go down unless we all start on a roll but I can't see us dragging other teams into it.
"I think its going to be very difficult for Sunderland but we need a bare minimum of a point a game and I still see 40 points as the safety target."