Fabio Wardley came through early adversity to knock out Justis Huni in the tenth round of his homecoming fight at Portman Road.
The previously unbeaten Aussie, who stepped in for Jarrell Miller on five weeks’ notice, had won almost every round leading up to the stoppage.
But a huge right hand from the Suffolk puncher sent Huni tumbling to the canvas, where he was unable to beat the count.
With that, Wardley scoops the WBA interim heavyweight title and a high ranking with the major sanctioning body.
Before the table-turning shot landed, Huni’s world-class amateur pedigree was on full display.
Early doors, he evaded Wardley’s dynamite right hands and replied with sharp counters of his own, but the Aussie was buckled by a straight at the end of the opening stanza.
In round three, Huni began backing Wardley up against the ropes, although the Brit came back with some heavy shots of his own, as the packed-out Portman Road crowd erupted in full voice.
The twists and turns continued in the fourth and fifth rounds as both men went toe to toe.
Huni repeatedly snapped back Wardley’s neck with some booming right hands as he forced the Suffolk puncher onto his heels.
At the halfway mark, there was a feeling that the gap might be widening for the Aussie, whose relentless work rate began to take the wind out of Wardley’s sails.
In the sixth, Huni sent Wardley backpedalling into the ropes with a big right hand, and in the seventh and eighth, he punished the Ipswich man with sickening body shots.
Heading into round ten, Wardley needed a knockout or at least multiple knockdowns to win.
And he did just that courtesy of a picture-perfect right-hand counter.
As he landed, the roof was blown off the stadium by a sea of cheers from his adoring fans, who were excellent all night.
Speaking after his dramatic win, Wardley said: “I am so thankful to everyone here, you got me through that, I could not have done it without you.
“I have never claimed to be Usyk, with all the skills, but I know how to bite down on the gumshield and find a way to win.
“I should have performed better, but I pulled something special out of the bag.
“He pulled out so many tricks, and I didn’t expect him to bank so many rounds.
“But I screwed my head back on and got the job done.”
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