The sky is now the limit for Wanganui boxer Robert "The Butcher" Berridge after his highlight reel stoppage of world-ranked Australian Serge Yannick on Thursday night.
Shown in primetime on Australia's Fox Sports as well as at home on Sky TV, Berridge punched his way out of trouble in a hard-hitting bout at Melbourne's Croatia Club, dropping Yannick twice in the eighth round for referee Tony Marretta to wave it off.
His record moves to an imposing 19-1-1 with 14 knockouts a 71.43 per cent average.
Delighted cousin Paul Berridge, who worked with "The Butcher" for a two-week training camp in Wanganui to buildup for the bout, said the fighter is now off to Brisbane for discussions with another promoter for his next matchup.
"They [Australians] love him, they want him to be there. Promoters want to see knock-outs."
Although nothing has been confirmed, there is also talk of appearing on the undercard of the David Tua comeback fight in August.
"The doors that will be opened are anywhere from America to a circuit in Hong Kong," said Paul Berridge.
But things were not looking so rosy as the rounds began to pile up during the semi-main event fight in Melbourne, with Cameroon-born Yannick connecting with the cleaner blows.
Coming into the fight with a 17-2 record, Yannick was making his light heavyweight debut having been an unsuccessful challenger for the IBO World Super Middleweight title last year.
The Fox Sports commentators noted how comfortable he looked at that weight, retaining both his power and speed.
Other than round two where Berridge was able to rattle his cage with some crunching body shots, Yannick absorbed most of the Kiwi's signature hooks by keeping his hands high.
Coming into the eighth of scheduled ten rounds the Australian was clearly ahead on points.
"It was pretty tense there, his cardio got tested from the sixth to eighth round," said Paul Berridge of his cousin, who he felt was not making his own opportunities.
"He was standing in front of Serge all the time and he was turning it on."
Given a very non-PG pep talk by Vasco Kovacevic in his corner, Berridge redoubled his efforts as he started changing the angles, looking for a opening, and Yannick provided it.
Southpaw Berridge is known for his dangerous counterpunching and when a tired Yannick came forward without planting his feet, the Kiwi clocked him with a perfectly timed straight slip shot.
Put straight to the canvas, a stunned Yannick got to his knees and waited for the count of nine before standing up, but was clearly in trouble as a Berridge barrage put him straight back down with just some glancing blows.
While the eyes still seemed clear, Marretta felt Yannick was done for the evening and stopped the bout 1 minute, 25 seconds into the round.
The victory was similar to Berridge's 2011 KO of then undefeated Trent Broadhurst, coming from behind on the scorecards to flatten him in the fifth round.
Paul Berridge agreed given his 28-year-old cousin's raw power, if his tactical nous and endurance can be raised to match his punching then he will truly be a world-class contender.
Born in Wanganui, Robert Berridge debuted in 2009 and has been training out of his Robust Fitness gym, although there are now moves afoot to close that Albany base.