After just 26 seconds Jack Javed realised knocking Lance G Banger McDonald down wasn’t going to be his biggest challenge.
Sticking to the plan would be.
The fighters had barely sized each other up when a vicious left hook to the temple sent McDonald crashing to the canvas, dramatically accelerating a fight Javed thought would take at least four rounds to negotiate.
“I didn’t expect to land that shot so early,” Javed said.
“I looked over [to trainer Paul Briggs] and said, ‘what do I do now?’”
Briggs' advice was simple - don’t rush it.
Javed listened.
Rather than chase an early finish, his game plan centred on McDonald’s body.
It was a plan he’d reduced to a pre-bell mantra.
“Body shots, body shots, body shots,” he said.
“I needed to take out his gas tank.”
But the early knockdown changed everything.
"I could hear him breathing really heavy," he said. "You see the morale in their eyes shift.
“I could smell blood. Metaphorically and physically.”
Somewhere among the exchanges, McDonald landed a shot that broke Javad's nose. “I only realised because when saw a red mist spray through the air," he said.
But it did little to alter Javed’s fight plan.
During the bout, commentators offered glowing praise of Javed’s composure and power.
Eventually it was too much for a frustrated, outclassed opponent.
Midway through the third round, referee Les Fear stepped between the fighters.
"I heard him say ‘I've seen enough’," Javad said.
In just his second professional bout, the 20-year-old had become just the second boxer to stop the notoriously durable McDonald.
“A lot of top prospects have fought Lance McDonald and not many of them have been able to stop him,” he said.
“To be one of the first people proves where my name lies among the others and who I can start to call out.”
It wasn't until the dressing room that the victory finally sank in.
Briggs, who has trained Javed for the past six years, embraced his fighter before kissing him on the forehead.
"Love you kid. Proud of you,” Briggs said.
Javed, having lost his father at the age of 10, said Briggs had become far more than a trainer to him.
“You've got eight to ten weeks of your life that goes into these [pre-bout] camps,” he said.
“To come out of it feeling good and get the win was awesome.
“We shared the sense of relief.”
But celebrations were brief.
Javed is already back in the gym with plans afoot for another bout later this year.
Not only that, law exams are looming.