Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith left Anthony Joshua on his feet, as the latter secured a narrow win in an action-packed blockbuster.
Buatsi and Smith met in a mouth-watering all-British affair on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The former was defending his WBO light-heavyweight interim title to stay in position for a future mandatory shot against the winner of the main event.
It was barely possible to split the pair on paper, with Buatsi the narrow favourite going into the mouth-watering opener on the card.
And the fight delivered an absolute epic, with the back and forth war lifting fans and the likes of Anthony Joshua from their seats in the Middle East.
Smith was cut badly to his right eye in the total barnstormer, as the pair were given a standing ovation on the final bell.
But the judges saw the contest at 119-110, 115-113 and 116-112 in the favour of Smith.
The Liverpudlian delivered a perhaps career-best display to hand a first defeat to rising talent Buatsi.
Buatsi was the narrow favourite given his trajectory in the division, but Smith was looking to use his experience and work his way back into the world title mix.
The pair opened the historic boxing bill, and it started early on at a frightening pace with Buatsi looking to impose his strength and physical power early on.
Smith found himself on the deck in the first as things became scrappy and he tumbled over the ropes, with Buatsi taking the role as the aggressor.
‘Just Business’ worked well with the jab, but Smith was landing some neat work on the back foot and neither fighter was backing away from any vicious trading in the exchanges.
Buatsi was walking down his opponent and unloading some eye-catching shots, but found himself catching some neat check hooks as he trundled forward in the third and fourth.
Smith was taking the wind out of the sails of Buatsi with some crunching body work, but a cut appeared next to his right eye as he walked into some more big artillery.
It was a real thrilling war, with the most eye-catching shot coming from Smith in the sixth who landed a booming right hand which rocked the former Olympian.
But it wasn’t over with his rival turning the tables and landing his own work which stuttered Smith’s barrage.
The round even brought Joshua to his feet who sat ringside alongside promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.
The pace initially slowed, but it was still a thriller as both fighters continued to look to put their work in the eyeline of the judges as the final rounds approached.
Once again, the tenth round delivered as Smith continued to batter away at the body but Buatsi was coming on strong, biting down on the gumshield.
And the London native stepped up the ante in the penultimate stanza, as Smith’s eye worsened and he appeared growingly fatigued.
Both fighters got a huge ovation as the final round started and ended, with both Buatsi and Smith landing a huge shot apiece.
Pundit Gareth A Davies labelled the fight the best of the year so far, with Smith left battered and bloody late on.
But he was declared the victor, with one card perhaps sceptical, although he stole the WBO interim crown in the end.
