Albanian star Florian Marku climbed off the floor to earn a unanimous points decision over Miguel Parra in his homecoming fight in Tirana.
Marku, who has been based in the UK throughout his professional career, has often said it was a dream of his to have a fight at home and they came out in their thousands to watch him at the Air Albania Stadium, the national football stadium.
It proved to be a tough night, as he was cut and heavily dropped, before coming through victorious to claim a minor WBC belt in the process.
The 29-year-old welterweight, who is ranked No 13 by the IBF, extended his unbeaten record to 13 fights, which includes one draw.
In a tight opener, Marku went forward but Parra was the busier. Things warmed up in the second as Marku looked to stand and trade with the Mexican, who was forced to open up with both hands, while Marku looked to wing in big left hooks.
Marku started taking control near the end of the third round, as he forced Parra back into a corner and landed a good left hook, as Parra began backing away.
In the opening moments of the fourth, Parra was on the floor after Marku dived in with a left and Parra seemed to trip over. It was ruled a knockdown though by referee Guido Cavalleri.
Parra was sparked into a fightback, but then a head clash left Marku cut over the left eye. The sight of blood inspired Parra, who landed a series of rights, although Marku knocked out Parra’s gumshield with a left.
The cut seemed to be playing on Marku’s mind as he switched southpaw in the fifth and Parra came forward, although Marku finished the round well.
Marku was back in control in the sixth as he forced Parra backwards and, in the seventh he landed a big left hook that cut the Mexican under the right eye. Parra then had a point deducted, although it was far from clear what for, as Marku put the pressure on, although Parra then rocked Marku’s head back with a hook after backing the Albanian into a corner.
Midway through the eighth round, though, Parra turned things on their head as he dropped Marku with a huge left hook.
Parra went straight after Marku and landed a series of heavy shots, as Marku covered up well as he looked to survive. Marku got plenty of help from Cavalleri, who at one point stopped the action to break them and then took up valuable time marching Parra back to the center ring. Then, unfathomably, he ended the round ten seconds early, stepping between the pair as if he had heard the bell, only for the ten-second warning to sound moments later.
On top of that, the minute’s rest between the rounds was extended by at least 15 seconds and while Parra chased after Marku in the last two rounds, he could not get the home fighter under heavy pressure after that.
“It was a good fight, I made some mistakes and made it harder than it was,” Marku said. “I traded with him without reason and Mexicans come to fight.
“The cut was a problem because I couldn’t really see from my left eye. I started really good and the cut affected me a lot.
“It was unbelievable [fighting in Albania], I want to thank everyone who is supporting me. The crowd is amazing, I wanted to perform much better than this, but I didn’t want an easy opponent for here.
“I don’t care [who I fight next]/ I will fight whoever they bring me.”
Local hope Amarildo Vraja endured a horror evening as he was cleaned out in just 40 seconds by Bulgaria’s Borislav Velev in the chief support.
In a clash of unbeaten super-welterweights, for a minor WBC Youth belt, Velev came right after Vraja at the opening bell and the 21-year-old simply could not keep him off.
Trapped in a corner, Velev got through with two heavy rights, the second of which seemed to knock him out on his feet and referee Massimo Barrovecchio dived in just as Velev landed a final right.
He was on the floor for about five minutes before being helped to his feet.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.