Daniel Dubois recovered from two early knockdowns to win a second world heavyweight boxing title with an 11th-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley in a brutal all-British battle in Manchester on Saturday.
Victory meant the 28-year-old deprived World Boxing Organisation champion Wardley of his belt, with Dubois having lost the International Boxing Federation version of the title to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley in July last year.
Wardley dropped Dubois to the canvas within barely 10 seconds of the opening bell at the Co-Op Live arena.
And in the third round Wardley, making his maiden title defence, landed a huge overhand right on Dubois, who took a knee before beating the count again.
But from then on Dubois connected with a series of crushing blows to leave Wardley's face a bloody mess and referee Howard Foster could easily have stopped the fight long before the 11th round of a scheduled 12.
Dubois, who now has a professional record of 23 wins and three defeats, with 21 knockouts, had been angered by an apparently casual comment made by Wardley in a pre-fight interview.
Wardley (21-0-1,19 KOs) said Dubois would be a "bin man" if the London heavyweight was not a boxer.
That led Dubois to respond by saying: "Well, I am going to take out the trash. I am the dustman, he is the trash, mate. I'll take out the trash."
'GREAT WARRIOR'
Yet he was full of respect for Wardley following Saturday's gruelling bout, with Dubois telling broadcaster DAZN, "It was a war, we went through the sticky moments. Thank you Fabio for that, thank you. I know I've got heart, bundles of heart. I'm a warrior in there."
Dubois added: "I had to pull it out the bag and rely on it and use all of my skills. What a great fight, what a great battle. But, I'm No 1 again.
"He (Wardley) is a durable guy, durable warrior, great warrior. Thank you for a great fight, man. It was an honour to be in the ring with you," he said before veteran promoter Frank Warren confirmed there was a rematch clause in the contract.
Dubois desperately needed a victory following a crushing defeat by Usyk – a loss made worse after a video surfaced showing a reported "gathering" at his house just hours before the bout.
Yet it was Wardley who started the stronger.
It was far from one-way traffic, however, with Dubois drawing audible gasps from the crowd when he rocked Wardley with a colossal right in the fourth round only for the champion to demonstrate a granite chin.
But such was the onslaught from Dubois that by the sixth round Wardley's face was covered in blood from a cut to his nose, which caused the referee's shirt to turn red as well.
But the gutsy Wardley, 31, somehow made it to the end of the round and in the seventh he took more punishment from Dubois.
By the ninth round, Wardley could barely see out of his right eye and his head was swollen, yet still the fight continued.
It seemed only a matter of time before the bout was stopped, with Wardley's face a grotesque sight, yet his corner still refused to pull him out and Foster let him box on before belatedly calling a halt to the contest.