Junior Fa claimed the WBO Oriental heavyweight belt and extended his unbeaten professional boxing record to 15-0 with a points win over Mexican Luis Pascual in Auckland tonight.
Two of the judges scored all 10 rounds in Fa's favour, while the third awarded one round to Pascual.
Despite the one-sidedscoring, the 28-year-old never looked like knocking out the Mexican champion (13-1), a late replacement for Ghana's Richard Lartey, and was criticised by commentators for a lacklustre display that lacked menace.
"I felt like I won every round but there's definitely some stuff I could have done better," said Fa.
Asked if the fight would do much to raise his profile, he said: "Possibly not, but I did a lot of good things. It's all a learning thing and I'll come back stronger."
By winning the WBO Oriental belt, Fa follows in the footsteps of Shane Cameron, who organised the fight night, David Tua, who was ringside, and Joseph Parker.
Fa's fight was preceded by a far more entertaining bout which saw Christchurch's Bowyn Morgan relieve Aucklander Shay Brock of his New Zealand super welterweight title with a points win.
