Callum Simpson reclaimed the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles after earning a unanimous decision in his rematch with Troy Williamson.
The impressive Simpson avenged the only loss of his career, when Williamson upset the odds to stop him in the 10th round in December.
The English pair put on another thrilling contest in Leeds which the judges scored 116-112, 117-112 and 115-113 in Simpson’s favour.
The 29-year-old, fighting under new trainer Rob McCracken, rocked Williamson with a big right hand in the third round.
But Williamson, 34, hung in and stung the challenger in the eighth round. Then, knowing he needed a knockout, he took the fight to Simpson in the final round.
However, that late rally was not enough to stop Yorkshire’s Simpson improving his professional record to 19 wins and one loss.
“It feels amazing,” said Simpson. “I really didn’t want it to be that exciting, but Troy is a tough fighter. He won the last fight so he [had] every right to be confident.
“What everyone doesn’t know is that, in the last fight, I perforated both my eardrums in the first round. I was an absolute mess so that fight for me was just trying to survive.
“But I didn’t make any excuses. I’ve come back better, learned from it and I knew I was going to get the win tonight.”
Simpson’s promoter Ben Shalom said the fight was “unbelievable” and praised Williamson, now 22-5 with one draw, as he “kept coming”.
But Shalom feels Simpson is back in world-title contention and hopes to secure him a shot in the next 12 months.
“In boxing, people are so quick to write someone off,” he added. “The amount of people that told me ‘do not take that rematch’.
“We took it, [Simpson] did it and I’m so happy for him.”
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