Canadian light heavyweight Adonis Stevenson gave the fans in Montreal a thrilling victory by taking out 175-pound champ Chad Dawson with a left hook in the first round.

Dawson beat the count after being floored a minute into the fight, but referee Michael Griffin saw the lingering effects in his legs and called it off at 1:16. Stevenson came away from the first title shot of his career with an improved record of 21-1, 18 knockouts, and wearing the RING and WBC belts.

Dawson fell to 31-3 (17 KOs) in his second consecutive loss by knockout. In September he fell to super middleweight champ Andre Ward in the tenth round of a bout contested at 168 pounds.

In the opening bout, Yuriorkis Gamboa’s first foray into the lightweight division was a forgettable affair ending in a unanimous decision win over Darley Perez by scores of 116-11, 116-11 and 115-12.