Both men were showing the effects of the scrappy affair - Robinson's right eye swelling up while the mark on his nose from sparring was re-opened, and Berridge bled heavily under his right eye, also a familiar wound which has flowed in previous bouts.
Fighting to survive, Robinson got warned for an accidental head butt, and would also apologise to Berridge in the changing rooms afterwards for a couple of shots that went low in the early rounds.
In the end, judges' scorecards had it 99-93, 99-91 and 100-91 for Berridge to retain his NZPBA light heavyweight crown and lift the vacant IBO Oceania belt.
"Andy is one tough bugger, man. Just kept coming forward," he said afterwards.
"A few headbutts, that's why my face is like this.
"There's always more to work on, so get back in the camp."
His manager Vasco Kovacevic said they had never expected the 31-year-old Robinson to be an easy victim.
"We knew Andy was going to bring a junkyard fight, and we've got things to work on."
Back in the changing room, Berridge was a little more candid about his performance.
"I'm not too happy about it ... it was a s**t fight."
While the body shots had set up opportunities, Berridge shook his head when asked if he let his left hand go as much as he wanted.
The pattern was set early in the opening rounds as Robinson would get in tight with Berridge and box dirty, with his corner screaming at him to keep moving left with his hands up as they separated from the clinches.
From rounds three to six Berridge kept connecting with the rib and kidney blows, but they were one at a time and he could not land upstairs afterwards.
By round seven it was clear Robinson could handle himself as he managed to back Berridge up a couple of times with straight rights, and then the crowd stunned when the local favourite was staggered in the ninth.
Berridge immediately came back with some hard shots but the fight ended in the same tie-up, scrap it had started with.
Adding to the length of the evening was the long 10-round affair between Taranaki's NZPBA light middleweight title holder Daniel Maxwell (4-28-1) getting a unanimous decision over Wellington's Blake Bell (0-2).
Bell was the taller fighter, while Maxwell came in low looking to land that one big hook throughout the night, yet never connected.
Maxwell would try to rally near the end of each round, but both men connected with blocked gloves more than anything.
Jabs started to slip through in the later rounds as each man kept circling, the inexperienced Bell looking in good condition considering it was the first time he has gone this distance.
Maxwell looked to swing things his way in the final round with some heavy shots, and finally managed to trap Bell in a corner to go to work just before the final bell.
There was a substitution in the other professional bout as Napier's light heavyweight BJ Bland stepped in on 24 hours' notice to meet Wellington's Angus Lindsey, after kickboxer Tipene Maniapoto pulled out with food poisoning.
Despite zero preparation time, Bland was impressive with his combinations as he cruised to a unanimous decision victory over the four rounds.