WHEN MC John McDonald announced "we have a split decision", there was an audible gasp of disbelief at the SSE Arena on Saturday night.
Ryan Burnett had surely won the IBF bantamweight title after delivering the performance of his life against Lee Haskins, but it appeared one judge, Clark Sammartino, thought differently, scoring the fight 118-108 in favour of the defending champion in contrast to Jerry Jakubco and Dave Parris, who both had it 119-107 in favour of the north Belfast man.
In the end, it didn't matter as those magic words, 'and the new' followed as Burnett was indeed crowned champion in front of around 4,500 fans to become Belfast's latest world champion.
As it transpired, it was a case of mistaken identity from the veteran American judge who had the boxers mixed up according to promoter Eddie Hearn and it was all smiles from Burnett and his team after despite their initial shock at the time.
"To be honest I almost fainted in the ring thinking 'are they going to take it off me here?', but thank God the decision went in the right direction," said a bloodied Burnett, with that prized title belt sitting in front of him.
There could have been no disputing Saturday's outcome as the 25-year-old made a major statement against the experienced champion.
He even had to come through adversity as a head clash in the second round opened a cut on the forehead of both men with Burnett coming off worse.
There were concerns this could have forced the fight to be stopped, but credit to Burnett's corner who stemmed the flow of blood and allowed their man to deliver such an impressive showing.
He simply couldn't miss with his right hand against the tricky southpaw from Bristol who was punished with power shots each time he lunged in.
Burnett's speed was simply too much for Haskins as he was continually picked off and forced to eat leather as the home favourite banked round after round.
It was evident what way this contest was going and in the sixth round, the Newington man made it clear it was going to be his night.
A chopping right seemed to stiffen the legs of Haskins midway through the round as Burnett's power began to really tell and towards the end of the round, two powerful rights felled the champion. He did beat the count, but it was a small victory.
While Haskins seemed to struggle with an arm injury, it wouldn't make a difference as Burnett was a level above. Again, he had Haskins on the floor in the 11th and a follow-up onslaught almost forced the stoppage, but the bell saved the champion who bravely battled through to the final bell.
There was that shock of a split decision, but there could be no doubting the victor as an emotional Burnett celebrated wildly in the ring with his family and team as his night to join the glorious list of Belfast world champions had arrived.
"I think I will need to go into a quiet room and think about it because it hasn't sunk in yet," said the new champion after.
"This is a lifetime achievement and I have worked so hard for this. Even when things were going bad for me (in his career), I always told myself that things were going to be ok, just keep going and one day I will get there. Thank God, I have done it, I'm world champion."
It was a proud night for Burnett and his coach, Adam Booth who was greatly impressed with how his man dealt with the occasion and feels there is much more to come in the future with a potential unification clash against WBA champion and former sparring partner, Zhanat Zhakiyanov next up in autumn.
"How could I be more proud? Nothing I have done before tops this," said Booth.
"The special thing about this is that he had only 16 fights going into this. The growth he has had mentally, not having the fights to give him that, just shows the belief and conviction in what he does."
Burnett will enjoy a well-earned rest now and let his wounds of battle heal. The Belfast fight fans have a new world champion and one that looks like he will be here to stay for some time yet.
