Just shy of 18 months on from the disappointment of losing in agonising circumstances on his professional debut, Joe Ward avenged that defeat by beating Marco Delgado a rematch in Puerto Rico.
The Moate, Co Westmeath fighter was facing the same Californian opponent from that October 2019 setback when he was forced to retire with a knee injury early in their Madison Square Garden encounter.
But on this occasion, the former three-time amateur European light heavyweight champion was able to put that disappointment behind him, overcoming Delgado by unanimous decision in a six-round contest in the Puerto Rican city of Salinas.
The judges each scored the fight 60-54 in the Irishman's favour.
Ward, 27, now moves onto 3-1 as a pro, having beaten Luis Alberto Velasco and Fernando Miguel Tamayo in Mexico last December as he resumed his career following the knee injury sustained in the previous Delgado fight.
