Cuban Luis Ortiz outclassed Malik Scott as he marked his European debut with victory in Monte Carlo.
The 37-year-old, a recent signing to Matchroom Boxing, was too powerful for his American counterpart as he claimed the WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
The Cuban extended his unbeaten record to 26 straight victories with points tallies of 120-105, 120-106 and 119-106, but will take little enjoyment from a frustrating night's work.
The southpaw Ortiz marched his opponent down menacingly from the off in a bizarre encounter where Scott regularly slipped and fell to the canvas.
Scott was quick to go on the back foot early on as Ortiz spent much of the first round hunting the American down in a cagey opener, and those tactics stayed in play for the rest of the fight.
'King Kong' set about trying to trap Scott on the ropes and quickly landed a straight left before Scott twice slipped to the canvas in the opening rounds, with a scoring punch yet to be thrown - setting the tone for the rest of the fight.
Ortiz continued to cut off the ring and two clubbing punches wobbled Scott briefly and again he dropped to the canvas as the fight became a very peculiar main event.
Scott was twice on the canvas again in the mid-rounds and this time the referee gave counts and the Philadelphian was slow to stay in the contest on both occasions.
The Cuban cut a frustrated figure as the rounds ticked by as Scott circled the ring, seemingly happy to stay out of trouble in a fight void of any noticeable action.
In the seventh, Scott briefly came to life and landed a slick counter punch which stopped Ortiz in his tracks, prompting sarcastic cheers from the crowd. 'King Kong' Ortiz was quick to get back down to business though and returned some spiteful punches to regain control.
A sharp left hand to the body from Ortiz early on in the ninth round saw Scott again falter and hit the floor to face the referee's count for the third time.
Scott survived to hear the final bell and afterwards, Ortiz revealed his frustration at Scott's game-plan, telling Sky Sports: "Malik was running around the ring and made it hard for me to fight.
"Everybody comes to see a show and see someone fight and brawl. It made it hard for me. I'm a little disappointed because I wanted to knock him out, but he was moving around and made it hard."