British heavyweight Dillian Whyte stepped up his prospects of a world title fight by stopping Malcolm Tann inside three rounds on his American debut.
Whyte, whose only professional defeat came at the hands of Anthony Joshua, delivered a series of brutal body shots to the veteran Tann, and will now look towards building a fight with Deontay Wilder.
The emphatic victory was the 21st of Whyte's career, with 16 now coming by knockout after leaving 'The Showstopper' writhing in pain.
In truth, the Brixton-born boxer did exactly what was expected of him to Tann, who has now lost four of his last five fights, and has boxed just three times since 2007.
Whyte looked largely comfortably throughout the bout, but did appear to get caught by a couple of shots that a better boxer would have exposed more comfortably.
However, it was a tactically astute performance from 'The Bodysnatcher', who sat behind the jab for the majority of the opening round, softening Tann up with some nice blows to the body that would later pay off.
Tann was constantly backed up against the ropes and in the corner as Whyte expertly cut off the centre of the ring, allowing him to release some explosive shots in the second.
Midway through the round, Whyte wobbled the American with a brutal hook to the chin, then forcing him to take a knee following a flurry of punches.
When Tann just about managed to make the count, the Briton immediately knocked him back down with another punishing strike.
Bizarrely, the 38-year-old appeared to want an end to the bout, giving the referee every opportunity to call it off as he rose to his feet with the count virtually at 10 for the second time.
However, Tann continued into the third round, though half-heartedly it must be said, even dangerously turning his back on Whyte in the corner of the ring.
The third knock down came with a heavy body shot delivered by Whyte, leaving the American grimacing and taking another knee, then shouting at the referee when he once again continued the fight following another nine count.
Eventually, 'The Bodysnatcher' finished the fight with a combination of body blows, the second an absolute beauty that left Tann sprawled on the canvas.
You can watch the fight in full in the video below. Scroll to 10:00 to see the brutal body shot.
This time, the referee decided he had seen enough.
Though he won't pull up any trees with Tann's name on his record, Whyte got his career in America off to the perfect start and showed potential opponents how destructive he can be.
Despite this, he still has a long way to go to become the heavyweight champion of the world.