Liam Wilson took his professional boxing head-to-head against fellow Aussie Youssef Dib to 2-0 in a brutal and bloody 10-round battle on Saturday night, but an incident described as "unsportsmanlike conduct" marred the victory.
Wilson prevailed over Dib via unanimous decision in Brisbane to take his professional boxing record to 15-3.
The 28-year-old received scorecards of 96-91, 96-91 and 95-92.
He then declared in the ring that he was ready for a world title bout against American O'Shaquie Foster.
But an incident in the ninth round of Wilson's clash with Dib, in which he connected a "low blow" to his rivals' groin before standing over him and flaunting, gave his win a sour taste.
The incident infuriated the Dib camp, led to referee Chris Condon giving Dib a few minutes to recover, and resulted in Wilson copping a point deduction.
"That is a shocker," Fox Sports caller Ben Damon said of Wilson's low blow.
Former US boxing world champion Keith Thurman condemned Wilson's poor sportsmanship.
"I think one of the major reasons why the referee did that [hand out a point deduction and give Dib time out] was not just how low it was; it was the unsportsmanlike conduct after the low blow," Thurman said on the Fox Sports broadcast.
At the start of the ninth round, Dib had shouted at Wilson: "Do you respect me now?".
Wilson claimed after the fight he hadn't heard it, but insisted he had absolute respect for Dib.
Damon asked Wilson post-fight if he wanted to address "some of the things that took place in the ring", hinting at the low blow and flaunting.
"It's just heart, emotion, fighting pride; that's simply it," Wilson said.
"There's no animosity. I could go and have a coffee with him now."
Dib hosed down talk of Wilson's unsportsmanlike behaviour when quizzed post-fight.
"That's just boxing, that's just heat-of-the-moment sort of stuff," said Dib, the younger brother of former boxing world champion Billy Dib.
"I respect Liam Wilson, I respect his team."
Wilson twice knocked Dib to the canvas with slick left uppercuts during the first two rounds, but Dib held in valiantly to take the fight the distance and earn the respect of Wilson and many others.
Wilson and Dib went head-to-head for several seconds at the completion of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth rounds, getting in each other's grills as hostility bubbled over.
Wilson also took a swipe at Dib's torso once the bell had sounded to end the eighth round, testing the referee's patience and tempers in the opposite corner.
All the while, Wilson had to continually have the bridge of his nose caked in vaseline because of a gaping and bloody cut.
The Caboolture brawler had blood spitting from both his nose and mouth over the second half of the fight, and some blood splattered onto a broadcast camera covering every move of what was an enthralling battle.
