IPSWICH, England - Just as this incredible parade looked like it was about to be rained off completely, Fabio Wardley pulled out a right hand from the Gods to complete a one-punch turnaround for the ages against Justis Huni.

The Australian had promised not to be overawed by the occasion and vowed to turn Wardley’s homecoming fight at the home of his beloved Ipswich Town FC into his own coming out party.

And after heavy rain had poured over this corner of Suffolk all day and night, Huni looked set to turn this event into one big unmitigated disaster as he built up a solid lead at Portman Road to silence the crowd.

But just as things seemed to be slipping beyond his grasp, the father-to-be from Ipswich produced one of the finest shots of his career to put Huni flat on his back in the 10th. The visitor did his best to beat the count but so venomous was the right hand that he was unable to convince Mark Lyson he could continue.

“I might not be a Usyk or a Huni with lots of boxing skills,” Wardley said afterwards. “But I can dig deep, bite down on the gumshield and find a way to win and that’s exactly what I did tonight.

"Justis Huni is a great operator, I knew his gameplan down to a tee, I should've performed better but I found a way to win.

"He's a great boxer, some great skills, he showed me everything he had, pulled out all the tricks, I didn't expect him to bank rounds like that. We rejigged, screwed my head back on, stuck to the game plan and got the win."

Wardley’s preparation for this, the most important fight of his life so far, was punctuated by the imminent arrival of his first child. Wardley’s partner is due to give birth to their daughter later this month but the heavyweight insisted during the build-up that he still managed to keep his eye on the ball throughout training camp.

It might have been different had it not been his long-awaited Portman Road homecoming, which he has openly pleaded for even since his days across the promotion road with Matchroom. As it happened, it was Frank Warren and Queensberry who delivered this event for Wardley - and it came against a Matchroom fighter.

Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs had been scheduled to fight Jarrell Miller and the pair were separated by security guards at their launch press conference after the Big Baby had been wound up by a supposed diss track he had heard from his potential opponent. Turned out it was an AI generated song that Wardley knew nothing about and Miller pulled out of the fight citing a shoulder injury anyway.

It meant they needed a new, credible opponent with a high enough profile to match the magnitude of this event, the first boxing show at Portman Road in 80 years and first of this scale ever. Undefeated Huni, No.1 contender with the WBO at the time, fit the bill and he supposedly accepted the challenge immediately. Eddie Hearn, his co-promoter along with Mick Francis and Tasman Fighters, insisted that even offering Huni the opportunity in the first place was an unusual mistake from Warren.

While his credentials stacked up, he was unable to match the sort of braggadocio provided by Miller, meaning he and Wardley engaged in a reasonably low-key fight week. Even so, the poncho-clad locals who packed into a sodden Portman Road did not seem to care.

Kieran McKenna, the much-loved manager of Ipswich Town FC, took his ringside seat at around 8:30, which kick-started the atmosphere inside this famous old ground. The decibel-level steadily rose until the emergence of local hero Wardley at around 10:10pm local team provided an adequate crescendo.

Before him, Huni had jogged through the rain smiling as the crowd drowned out his ringwalk song by chanting Wardley’s name. He was not kept waiting long as the home favourite soon followed in a moment which will live long in the memory of everyone in attendance. This was a man who once drew a handful of his mates along for his white collar fights during his days as a recruitment consultant. He is now one of the biggest fighting draws from this part of the country in British boxing history.

Unsurprisingly decked out in the royal blue of Ipswich Town, Wardley was straight out behind his trademark guard, with his lead hand held low. Huni, a long-time amateur boxer, had been billed as the boxer in this fight against the big-punching Wardley and it was he who landed first, with an early left hook finding a home.

Despite coming in at a career-high of 248lbs, the Brisbane man was moving well, gliding in and out of range to evade Wardley’s attacks. He was, however, a whisker away from landing a big right hand moments before the bell to end the second.

Huni had settled well into the fight but the crowd were back on their feet late in the third when Wardley landed with a big left hook on his own. The visitor took it well but it gave Wardley the opportunity to up the pace as the round ended.

But Huni responded well in the fourth and opened up a cut on the bridge of Wardley’s nose, a troublesome area for him ever since the first Frazer Clarke fight. Huni followed it up with a big right hand over the top before a left hook to the chin and one which strayed below the belt took the wind out of Wardley’s sails.

Perhaps sensing things were not going exactly to plan, the noise levels inside the ground dipped in the fifth as Huni, who boxed beautifully at times, continued to apply educated pressure. He landed a big right hand in the closing stages of the sixth and then followed it up early in the seventh with a double jab, cross combination.

The Australian was growing in confidence as a hush enveloped the stadium. Another slashing right hand was to follow for Huni and Wardley looked in trouble as the bell sounded to end the seventh. He looked short of ideas but he refused to wilt despite heavy pressure from the visitor.

Throughout his career, one of Wardley’s most effective qualities has been an ability to pull something out of the bag when most in trouble. That is exactly what he did with an official time of 1:42 of the 10th recorded. “It only takes one split second to switch off, and that's what I did tonight,” Huni said. “Credit to Fabio. He's an awesome fighter, he never gave up, he got the win and he deserves it."

Warren said: "Eat your heart out Deontay Wilder, that was a Deontay Wilder moment. He's got a big heart, he's powerful man and again he stops another one."

Now Wardley can put his feet up and finally look forward to fatherhood. But he will not be away for long with a world title shot likely to follow his new baby daughter at some point in the next nine months.