Australian heavyweight Justis Huni has suffered a shock first defeat of his career after being knocked out in the 10th round of a world title fight he had dominated.
The 26-year-old turned the tables after entering as a heavy underdog against local favourite Fabio Wardley in England — but it was the Briton who claimed the interim WBA belt in a stunning finish.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: ‘Unbelievable’ scenes as Aussie heavyweight knocked out in title fight.
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Huni stepped forward halfway through the 10th round only for Wardley, who was surely sensing that he was down on the scorecards and about to lose for the first time in his career, to fire back and send the Australian tumbling to the canvas.
Huni returned to his feet about 10 seconds after the shot — and at that moment the referee counted him out and called the fight.
“That is unbelievable,” the commentator screamed.
“Fabio Wardley, losing virtually every single round — oh my word.”
Huni accepted the fight on barely one month’s notice after Jarrell Miller was injured.
“That’s my curse. I even said before this fight it only takes one second to switch off, it happened tonight,” Hunis told DAZN.
“I’m grateful to Fabio and his team and to Ipswich to be able to perform in front of you. Get behind him, he’s going to do great things.
“He’s just an awesome fighter. He never gave up and he got the win, he deserves it. Thank you Ipswich for the opportunity to perform here, I’m grateful.”
Since beating Kevin Lerena, who was 30-2, last March, Huni has benched father and mentor Rocki and embraced the full-time return of coach Mark Wilson.
He has also overhauled his diet, surgically repaired his arm and notched three convincing domestic victories.
But Saturday night (Sunday morning AEST) proved a setback, with Huni now forced to watch Wardley move on and chase the undisputed title.
Justis Huni suffered a shock knockout blow in the 10th round. Credit: Getty Boasting a glittering amateur career, including a world championships bronze, Huni looked keen to display his credentials on the big stage.
He demonstrated his firepower from the off, causing Wardley real problems with powerful combinations, mercilessly targeting the body as he racked up round after round on the judges’ scorecards.
Huni insisted he hadn’t flown over 10,000 miles not to try to cause an upset and his stinging right hand, lively footwork and impressive hand speed continued to cause problems as the tiring Briton battled to contain his opponent going into the tenth.
But it was then that Wardley somehow pulled out a stunning right-hand from absolutely nowhere, forcing an astonishing KO and sending his relieved fans into wild celebrations.
Wardley, whose win will boost his WBA ranking with the sanctioning body, was keen to praise the previously unbeaten Aussie for his performance.
“I don’t profess to being any Usyk or Justis Huni who has all the skills, but I know how to win fights and that’s one thing I knew I had to do tonight,” Wardley said in the ring.
“Justis Huni is a great operator. We’d drilled everything over and over again. I should’ve performed better in some of those rounds.
“He’s a great boxer, some great skills and he showed me everything he had tonight. I didn’t expect to bank rounds like that with Justis. I hurt him a bit in the first round and maybe I had too much confidence early on.”
Huni’s loss came just hours before stablemate Jai Opetaia steps into the ring to defend his cruiserweight world title belts on the Gold Coast.
– with AAP