Tony Bellew out-worked Mateusz Masternak to earn a unanimous but unspectacular points decision win for vacant European cruiserweight title on Saturday.
Bellew (26-2-1, 16 KOs) earned scores of 115-113, 115-112 and 115-112 over Masternak (36-4, 26 KOs) after a tidy display against a durable opponent who was only ever in trouble in the closing moments at the O2 Arena in Greenwich.
Bellew, 33, showed he has still got an appetite for the real thing after starring in the seventh Rocky movie, Creed, which has its UK premiere next month and stars Sylvester Stallone.
"I don't think I'm that good but I'm gritty and ballsy and I'm ready for any of the world champion now," he said.
The Liverpool boxer bloodied Masternak's face by the end of the first round but the Pole was tough and began containing Bellew with his jab.
'Bomber' Bellew was content to play a patient game, scoring with single shots rather than unloading combinations.
The classier work came from Bellew, who landed two clever short right hooks in the seventh but Masternak was still pressing forward in the eighth.
Both opened up in the ninth with big hooks, with Bellew getting the better of the exchange, but he was put under pressure in the tenth when Masternak caught him with a clubbing right while on the ropes and the Briton's left eye began to swell shut.
But Bellew survived that brief crisis in the tenth and finished the last round stronger, walloping the wobbly Pole around the ring.
Earlier in the evening, Luke Campbell crashed to his first professional loss after being overwhelmed by the big-hitting Yvan Mendy, who won a split points decision.
The Hull lightweight was floored by a left hook in the fifth round and was knocked off his rhythm by the powerful punches of his heavy-handed French opponent.
Campbell (12-1, 10 KOs), who won bantamweight gold at the 2012 Olympics, took a big right in the corner during the tenth and could not keep off Mendy (33-4-1, 16 KOs).
Campbell, 28, had stopped ten of his previous 12 opponents but he could not cope with the power of Mendy, who picked up the fringe WBC title with scores of 115-113, 115-113 to 115-112.
"I felt I won the fight but I'm not one of the judges," Campbell said. "It was a good lesson. I showed a lot. There are no excuses -- I gave it everything."
Over in Moscow, Enzo Maccarinelli breathed life into his career by knocking out 46-year-old Roy Jones in four rounds in Moscow.
The 35-year-old Welshman, who was last world cruiserweight champion in 2008, stopped the American in the fourth round to boost his chances of another title shot.
Jones, who has won world titles in four weight divisions and was the best boxer of the 1990s, was nailed by a ferocious right and sent rebounding off the ropes to land face first on the canvas.