Devin Haney, take a bow.
The American has etched his name into boxing's illustrious history books, becoming the lightweight division's very first unified champion of the world at just 23 years of age – the youngest undisputed champ of the four-belt era.
Not only that, but Haney did so in on foreign soil too – respect.
Advert
The new undisputed champ produced a boxing clinic on hometown hero George Kambosos Jr while a passionate partisan crowd inside Melbourne's Marvel Stadium watched on.
Kambosos Jr never stopped marching forward, but was chasing shadows all night as Haney's sheer speed and inch-perfect game plan proved too much for the Aussie fan favourite.
The judges' scorecards read 116-112, 116-112, 118-110 in favour of the young star who now travels back to the United States with every single 135-pound belt wrapped round his waist.
Advert
It turns out there's a rematch clause in the contract, meaning Kambosos Jr will have a shot at redemption.
“He just boxed his game,” Kambosos said during his in-ring interview after the bout.
“He moved, he boxed, he didn’t really want to come to the fight too much but that’s his game. I give him respect. I’m going to change a few things and get him back at the end of this year.”
The atmosphere inside Marvel Stadium was electric.
Advert
Cold, but electric.
Rather unsurprisingly, Haney was greeted with a frosty reception from the Aussie fans, some small sections of the crowd even booing the American national anthem.
As for Kambosos Jr, his welcome was the polar opposite.
When footage of Kambosos Jr warming up backstage came up on the big screen inside Marvel Stadium, the entire place erupted.
Advert
His legendary Spartan war cry then blasted over the PA system as the gladiator himself entered his backyard colosseum.
As far as iconic boxing entrances go, it was up there with the very best.
But despite the heated build-up and historic occasion, both men came out tentative in the first round.
Advert
Kambosos Jr who started to take the upper hand in the second, landing a clean right hand which got those inside Marvel Stadium out of their seats.
Haney, sticking to his masterplan, continued to jab away at his opponent before initiating the clinch though.
It was a tactic that would ultimately get the American visitor's hand raised.
The next three minutes of the third round saw Kambosos Jr respond by exchanging jabs, although Haney continued to hug his rival after landing – much to the frustrations of Kambosos Jr.
Either that, or his impressive illusiveness meant he was able to effortlessly slide out of the danger zone without taking too much damage.
But in the fourth, the Aussie switched things up and came out swinging, closing the range a lot better and landing a few nice shots.
As for the fifth, the sheer speed of Haney’s jab really started to become evident as he tagged Kambosos Jr a number of times.
But to give credit to the Australian, he continued to close the distance in a bid to fight on the inside of Haney.
At the half way point after round 6, Haney really started to take the fight by the scruff of the neck.
His ability to land lightning-quick jabs and immediately engage in a clinch was ultimately tying Kambosos Jr up on knots.
Smart boxing, you have to give it to him.
By the time the later rounds arrived, it was perhaps too little too late for Kambosos Jr with the scorecards arguably leaning in the visitor's favour.
But that didn't stop Kambosos Jr from coming out firing every single time, showing the same sort of aggression that was on show in his upset victory over Teofimo Lopez in 2021.
To be fair to George, the pendulum began swinging in the Australian champ’s favour in the later rounds as he pushed forward, but Haney still did an immaculate job of throwing the jab before clinching.
When the final bell sounded, both men put their differences behind them and hugged it out in a true sign of respect.
The same couldn't exactly be said for their entourages, particularly Haney's, but still.
Kambosos Jr and Haney left everything out there in the centre of the ring, but unfortunately for the Aussie, it was his rival who leaves Melbourne with all the shiny belts in his possession.
A historic build-up.
A historic night of boxing.
And a new history-making champion has been crowned.
Max Sherry