Scott Harrison produced a peerless performance to repel the brave challenge of Wayne McCullough and retain his WBO featherweight title in Glasgow tonight.
Only the Belfast man's legendary bravery prevented Harrison from becoming the first man to secure a stoppage win in 30 fights.
Instead the 25-year-old turned on a performance full of class and composure which belied his relative inexperience in the upper echelons of the nine-stone division.
The judges returned him the victor by a deserved 120-108, 119-109, 119-108 points.
Harrison had McCullough in serious trouble in the sixth and seemed certain of his stoppage two rounds later with referee John Coyle hovering over the stumbling challenger.
But McCullough regrouped and managed to escape with his proud record and his dignity intact at the final bell.
From the moment Harrison took the centre of the ring after the opening bell it was evident that his superior strength would tell.
Harrison was simply too young, too strong and too focused for the Irishman to make any sort of impression in a predictably relentless but ultimately one-sided contest.
Harrison had plenty of praise for McCullough afterwards but was pleased with his performance.
He told Sky Sports: "Wayne is one of the best in the world. He kept coming back from my hard punches - I've got a lot of respect for him.
"But I used my jab and the angles, Basically I put the combinations together with speed and power."
McCullough said: "He was better and stronger than I thought he'd be - that's why I couldn't mix it up. He hurt me early on.
"He's unbelievably strong. It wasn't a matter of size - it was strength. I could still jab with him but his strength is unbelievable."