Junior Witter won the vacant WBC light welterweight title with a unanimous points victory over DeMarcus Corley.
It had been six years since Witter's first and only crack at a world title but his patience was rewarded after a dour, tactical bout in London.
The counter-punching style of both men led to a cagey contest with American Corley especially happy to stand off.
Bradford-born Witter, 32, landed blows in the fifth and sixth rounds and that helped swing the judges' verdict.
Witter's victory, which delighted his fans ringside at Alexandra Palace, means 'The Hitter' has now won 37 of his 40 professional fights.
It was a sweet reward for the Briton, who had won 18 fights since his last world title fight, a defeat to Zab Judah in an IBF belt contest.
"Now I am world champion, and I am on top of the world," said Witter.
"A lot of people did not have faith in me, from before I turned pro - but I have proved them all wrong.
"I was up against a hell of a fighter, with a great chin. But it was just a case of making sure I won, and I never felt in any trouble whatsoever."
Witter's unorthodox approach, which included some bizarre statuesque posturing, seemed to faze Corley, who offered little in the way of aggressive punching.
The American looked to be working his way into the fight but went to the canvas in round five after Witter landed a crunching upper-cut - however, the referee deemed his trip a slip.
Witter tried to build on his initiative in the next round, landing a crashing right hook and a clean overhand left but Corley managed to stay upright.
Neither fighter was able to inflict any real damage on the other in the closing rounds although Witter appeared to have more desire to come forward and attack than his opponent.
At the final bell, both men were raised high by their cornerman but the judges came down unanimously in favour of Witter with scores of 118-112, 117-111 and 116-114.
Source :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/5342936.stm
Couldn't see it, had to listen on Fivelive and what a fight it was, some big punches by Witter came close to ending it in the fifth round i think it was, but Corley to his credit held out. Witter had to stage a comeback in rounds 11 and 12 to secure victory.
Some people are speculating that him and Hatton might meet, and that surely would be a huge fight for British boxing. And in kind there's the possibility of Clinton Woods [after his successful] title defence recently] taking on Calzaghe next year.
And just look though at the minute, how many world title belts are held by Brits, a golden era we're in you could say.
It had been six years since Witter's first and only crack at a world title but his patience was rewarded after a dour, tactical bout in London.
The counter-punching style of both men led to a cagey contest with American Corley especially happy to stand off.
Bradford-born Witter, 32, landed blows in the fifth and sixth rounds and that helped swing the judges' verdict.
Witter's victory, which delighted his fans ringside at Alexandra Palace, means 'The Hitter' has now won 37 of his 40 professional fights.
It was a sweet reward for the Briton, who had won 18 fights since his last world title fight, a defeat to Zab Judah in an IBF belt contest.
"Now I am world champion, and I am on top of the world," said Witter.
"A lot of people did not have faith in me, from before I turned pro - but I have proved them all wrong.
"I was up against a hell of a fighter, with a great chin. But it was just a case of making sure I won, and I never felt in any trouble whatsoever."
Witter's unorthodox approach, which included some bizarre statuesque posturing, seemed to faze Corley, who offered little in the way of aggressive punching.
The American looked to be working his way into the fight but went to the canvas in round five after Witter landed a crunching upper-cut - however, the referee deemed his trip a slip.
Witter tried to build on his initiative in the next round, landing a crashing right hook and a clean overhand left but Corley managed to stay upright.
Neither fighter was able to inflict any real damage on the other in the closing rounds although Witter appeared to have more desire to come forward and attack than his opponent.
At the final bell, both men were raised high by their cornerman but the judges came down unanimously in favour of Witter with scores of 118-112, 117-111 and 116-114.
Source :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/5342936.stm
Couldn't see it, had to listen on Fivelive and what a fight it was, some big punches by Witter came close to ending it in the fifth round i think it was, but Corley to his credit held out. Witter had to stage a comeback in rounds 11 and 12 to secure victory.
Some people are speculating that him and Hatton might meet, and that surely would be a huge fight for British boxing. And in kind there's the possibility of Clinton Woods [after his successful] title defence recently] taking on Calzaghe next year.
And just look though at the minute, how many world title belts are held by Brits, a golden era we're in you could say.