Ben Whittaker put himself on the brink of a world title fight after surviving a chaotic ending in his unanimous points win over Conor Wallace in Birmingham on Saturday.
In his biggest test as a professional, Whittaker dominated the more experienced Wallace for nine rounds and hardly put a foot wrong as he boxed and showboated his way to an unassailable lead.
But a big left hand from Wallace in Round 10 changed the momentum of the bout.
Whittaker's legs looked shaky at times in the closing stages of the fight, but he kept swinging and held on, with the judges scoring the IBF title eliminator 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
"I think we should do it again and I'll beat him down even better," Whittaker said.
"If I'm honest, it was too easy. I took my eye off the ball a little bit and he come up with a good shot. That's boxing. But what did I do? I dug it out and I won.
"Not really [hurt] to be fair. Just making it really messy ... A lot of elbows, a lot of back of the head but it's a 12-round fight at top level and I loved it."
Whittaker's trainer, Andy Lee, revealed his fighter had been battling Covid in the week before the bout.
But, if there were any lingering effects of an illness, it didn't show in the early rounds as Whittaker boxed well, suffocating Wallace who was gun-shy at times.
Wallace struggled to land on Whittaker, whose movement and footwork was superior throughout the contest.
Whittaker grew into the fight and was showboating by the middle rounds, scoring consistently with the jab and while he had Wallace backed into a corner on several occasions, he couldn't find the stoppage and didn't build combinations to hurt his opponent.
Knowing he was running out of time, Wallace lit the fuse in Round 10 with a strong left hand which set Whittaker back on his heels.
Wallace wrestled momentum again in Round 11 with Whittaker, despite being several rounds up, determined to come forward and take unnecessary risks.
Things boiled over in the final round when Whittaker touched the canvas on three occasions, the second when he and Wallace wrestled each other to the ground.
However, no knockdowns were called as both fighters pushed and held on to each other. Whittaker, despite being the home fighter, was booed as he was interviewed post-fight.
Whittaker dominant but 'took his eye off the ball'
With Katie Taylor retired, Conor Benn snapped up by Zuffa Boxing and Anthony Joshua at the tail end of his career, Ben Whittaker is close to becoming the jewel in the crown of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom.
The promoter would have loved what he saw for the first 27 minutes, but the final three rounds made for tense viewing. Whittaker boxed smart and entertained, even if his own home crowd seemed to favour Wallace.
Whittaker, an Olympic silver medallist, is still raw when it comes to the professional ranks and conceded he took his eye off the ball in the closing stages of the fight. Against a more clinical or powerful opponent, it could have been a completely different story.
But, after four-straight knockouts inside two rounds, the experience will be invaluable for Whittaker. Lee was relaxed and all-smiles after his fighter got the win, but there will likely be some tough words from the veteran trainer when the last three rounds are reviewed.
Whittaker always promises to entertain and to be himself. He definitely delivered on both those counts.
The rematch makes sense
Wallace, who is from Northern Ireland and now based in Australia, will be stewing on the long flight back to the southern hemisphere.
He had Whittaker in trouble late on and will know if he had stepped up earlier the result could have been different. A former world champion told him as much in the immediate aftermath.
"Yeah, speaking to Tony Bellew, he said I've only got myself to blame, probably [left it] too late," he told DAZN.
Wallace will believe he can do better and with no title fight likely to come in the first half of next year, Whittaker could see a rematch as the best way to keep active and chase a better result.
It could also be the most logical move, with the levels between him and light heavyweight supremos Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev clear.
"Just concentration," Whittaker said. "When it got a little too easy I was playing too much, looking out the ring, doing silly antics. But it was a great fight, fair play to him he brought it. Shout out to his fans, I loved the atmosphere.
"I hurt him a lot and took my foot off the gas. I think if I kept my eye on the ball I would have got him out of there.
"But it's all 'shoulda, 'woulda, 'coulda ... I got the victory and if he wants to run it back and get beat down again, he can."