Brian Rose was controversially stopped in the first round by Carson Jones in front of his home crowd in Blackpool.
The referee Ian John-Lewis stepped in to end the fight with Rose still standing, albeit badly hurt, after Jones landed a barrage of powerful right hands and a left hook to end the light-middleweight contest.
It was a remarkable turnaround within the opening round after Rose started the fight cleverly behind his jab and wobbled Jones with a right hook. Moments later the fight was over after the American turned the tables via an overhand right and a follow-up flurry.
Rose covered up after the initial blow and clearly staggered across the ring but was unable to escape or hold onto Jones, who unleashed several more right hands, some of which were blocked and some further damaged the hometown fighter, before closing the show with a left to the side of the head.
The referee jumped between the fighters and stopped the bout with 28 seconds remaining in the first round.
It represented another significant downturn for the Blackpool fighter’s career after his June defeat to WBO super-welterweight champion Demetrious Andrade.
Rose's trainer Bobby Rimmer was shocked to see the hometown fighter's night end so prematurely.
Rimmer said: "It’s the most ridiculous stoppage. He was hurt but when Ian John-Lewis grabbed him I thought ‘what’s he doing?’ I’m still flabbergasted. It’s terrible what’s happened, it’s not right.
"Until Brian got hurt, the fight was going perfectly. All of a sudden Brian gets hurt, Ian runs over and stops the fight.
"He’s got a good chin, he recovers from punches like that, he recovers fast. As soon as the referee grabbed him Brian looked at me and asked ‘what’s going on’ and I didn’t have a clue."
