Anthony Mundine defeated Japan's Crazy Kim in a unanimous points decision in their non-title fight in Newcastle on Wednesday night.
A determined Mundine, fighting at super middleweight, out-pointed Crazy Kim in nearly every round, except for the third in which Kim dropped Mundine to the deck.
Mundine commanded the fight from the outset keeping Crazy Kim on the back foot.
It was obvious Mundine was searching for the knockout punch and he almost got it in the eighth round.
In that round repeated punches by Mundine to Kim's head nearly dropped the 33-year-old.
Mundine, the former two-time WA super middleweight champion, was fighting for the first time since he defeated Sam Soliman in Melbourne last May.
Out of his 32-bout career Kim has won 28 fights - 24 of them by knock out.
But he simply wasn't good enough for Mundine who at 33 years of age has won 32 of his 35 professional fights - 23 by knock out.
"I was looking for the knockout punch but Kim proved tonight he was a worthy challenger and stayed on his feet," Mundine said.
Mundine said he was disappointed that he was felled but all the great fighters had been knocked down at some stage in their careers.
Meanwhile, Australian Billy `The Kidd' Dib has won the vacant International Boxing Organisation super featherweight title in a unanimous points decision here tonight.
Dib's triumph climaxes a stellar rise through the ranks which has seen the 22-year-old win all 21 of his fights, 11 by knockout.
Tonight he edged Zolani Marali despite his South African opponent having a longer reach and formidable right jab.
Some observers thought Dib had met his match against the older Marali tonight, the South African dropping Dib on several occasions.
