The war of words lasted weeks, but in the end, Paul Gallen took just 115 seconds to knock out Lucas Browne in Wollongong, south of Sydney, on Wednesday night.
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While Gallen's first blow didn't land, he didn't miss from there, felling Browne within the first minute.
The former WBA champion got back up, but not long after, Gallen hit "Big Daddy" with a TKO to remain undefeated in the ring.
The six-round bout - tipped to be the most watched heavyweight battle in Australian boxing history, was over in the first round.
"Coming in, my team kept saying 'you've got to take it to him in the first round, he's an experienced fighter and he can go and go. You've got to show you're in the fight early'. I said to myself, 'just knock him out in the first round'. And when I hurt him, I did what he would do to be honest," Gallen told reporters afterwards.
"We practised that punch in prep. Early on, it was about getting the fitness up and just punch and punch. At practise, we got in tight and practised those shots inside, and stepped out and bang, over hand right. We just kept working on it the whole time.... and when the opportunity came, I threw it.
"I knew I had hurt him so I kept following up with that same pressure and work rate."
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The lead up to the WEC fight had a bit of everything, from trash talk through to glove issues and an alleged boycott threat.
After it was first announced in February that Wollongong would host the heavyweight battle, there had been plenty of trash talk in the media between Gallen and Browne, including the pair dubbing each other "drug cheats".
The controversy continued ahead of Tuesday's weigh in at Northbeach Novotel, Browne was unable to fit his hands in two sponsored gloves. As part of the fight's deal, both men must wear 10-ounce custom made Everlast gloves before going toe-to-toe. Organisers were left scrambling trying to sort out the issue.
The drama continued in the lead up to the fight, including in the final hours beforehand, with Gallen reportedly refusing to fight unless drug testing went ahead.
But, despite the rollercoaster journey to get there, the show did go on at the WEC. However, it was over in less than two minutes.
Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
