Gervonta Davis was crowned as the new IBF super-featherweight champion after a hugely impressive seventh round knockout win over Jose Pedraza.
The 22-year-old American effortlessly handled the step-up to world title level and ripped the belt away from the previously unbeaten Pedraza when he landed a huge right hook at the Barclays Center in New York.
Davis displayed his hand speed in the opening round, catching Pedraza with two jolting uppercuts, and also sunk a body shot below his opponent’s high guard.
Stung into action, Pedraza tried to force Davis onto the back foot in the second, but was stopped in his tracks by another crunching combination.
The southpaw was growing in confidence with every round and landed another crisp uppercut in the third.
A bout of showboating from Davis drew a determined response from Pedraza, who ended the fourth round strongly, and briefly pinned the Baltimore man on the ropes with a flurry of punches in the fifth.
But Davis would land a spiteful body shot in the sixth, which forced Pedraza to dip at the knees, and continued his steady assault in the following round.
With Pedraza backing away, Davis whipped his right hand through the Puerto Rican's defences, dropping him heavily through the ropes and the fight was waved off when he rose unsteadily to his feet.
Earlier on the bill, Ievgen Khytrov’s unbeaten record was shattered by a sixth round stoppage defeat against Immanuwel Aleem.
In an exciting meeting of two middleweight contenders, Khytrov was badly hurt in the very first round by an early barrage of punches from Aleem.
He was then floored in the third round and fired back to wobble Aleem, but would suffer another heavy knockdown in the sixth before the referee stepped in to rescue the dazed Ukrainian.