Sunday 18 September 2016 01:03, UK
Oleksandr Usyk announced himself as a leading force at cruiserweight by outpointing Krzysztof Glowacki for the WBO world title.
The Ukrainian 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medallist was in imperious form to silence Glowacki's fellow Poles in Gdansk and move to 10-0-KO9 with scores of 119-109 117-111 117-111.
Usyk began the bout observing from the outside but grew into the first round quickly; spearing out his southpaw jab before registering the first meaningful shot with a short left counter to a crude Glowacki assault.
The champion (26-1-KO16) quickly realised more initiative was required and landed a significant overhand left and following left to the body in the second but Usyk reasserted in the third; making his host fall short and then pouncing in to jab upstairs and down.
The pair continued to trade rounds but although Glowacki shaded the fourth courtesy of some decent work to the body, by that stage he was bleeding from above the right eye from an accidental head clash.
After dropping the fifth, Usyk found a rhythm at the end of the sixth when he edged a sudden exchange of hooks. More superb footwork allowed him to make Glowacki appear relatively cumbersome in the seventh and eighth and the home fighter's first moment of success in some time drew a generous nod from his visitor rather than any sign of distress.
The ninth and 10th saw Usyk at his artistic best. With Glowacki's eye worsening and his energy reserves dwindling, Usyk's use of angles allowed him to pick off his man and pick up both rounds before unveiling his flashiest combination in the 11th - a five-punch flurry catching his statuesque opponent.
To his credit, Glowacki responded and served up warning that he wasn't prepared to let his reign fade away easily; launching a pair of overhand lefts that cuffed Usyk enough to prompt chants of 'Glowacki' around the Ergo Arena.
They cranked the noise up further still in the final session when Usyk hit the deck after a tangle on the inside, but the challenger was deemed to have slipped, rose swiftly and finished the fight by landing more sumptuous combinations to underline his superiority in front of watching WBC champion Tony Bellew.
There was a wait as the judges seemed to take an age to tot up their scorecards but least anxious of all was Usyk, who was busy orchestrating his travelling support before being confirmed as a world champion.
