Australian boxer Alex Leapai has sent shockwaves through the world heavyweight division by upsetting the previously unbeaten WBO No.1 ranked contender Denis Boytsov in Germany.
The Samoa-born Queensland-based slugger knocked Russian Boytsov down twice in Bamberg on the way to earning a unanimous 10-round points win.
Two judges scored it 96-92 and their colleague 98-90, as Leapai retained the WBO Asia Pacific title and recorded the most significant win of his career.
The win puts eighth-ranked "The Lionheart" Leapai right in the mix for a challenge to WBO and WBA champion Wladimir Klitschko.
It was a fifth straight victory for Leapai, who improves to 30-4-3, 24 KOs, and who has lost just one of his last 23 fights since 2008.
At 34, seven years older than Boytsov, who is now 33-1 with 26 KOs, Leapai knocked the younger man down in both the seventh and the ninth and pummelled his opponent in the 10th.
