Little-known light-heavyweight Joe Smith stuns Andrzej Fonfara with first-round TKO

CHICAGO - Andrzej Fonfara knew there was danger in taking on an unknown, unheralded, anonymous mystery from Brookhaven, N.Y.

He knew there was a danger of engaging in another daring tuneup fight in his adopted hometown of Chicago, where friends and family can be distractions.

His worst fears became reality Saturday at the UIC Pavilion, as Fonfara suffered a brutal first-round knockout at the hands of Joe Smith, Jr., on his home turf on national television (NBC), in what is the leading candidate for upset of the year.

Smith, 22-1 (18 knockouts), a 25-1 underdog, connected with a beauty of a counter right hand that dropped Fonfara flat on his back and made a loud hometown crowd collectively gasp.

The courageous "Polish Prince" somehow found his feet, but was met with a furious onslaught of power shots that dropped Fonfara (28-4, 16 KOs), in his corner in a heap.

The coup de grace was a thunderous left hook that swept across Fonfara's jaw with jarring force, before he crashed to the mat in sections. Referee Hector Afu waved off the shocking massacre without a count.

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"There's no feeling like this. I'm happy to take this victory back home to New York to all my fans," Smith said. "Now everybody knows who I am. This is the best thing that could have happened.

"Once I started hitting him and pushing him back, he fell away and left himself open for the right hand. He was punching and I knew he leaves himself open. I was just looking for the punch and it landed."

The end came at 2:32 of the round, and it effectively ended talk of a possible Fonfara rematch with WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson, who beat him by close decision in 2014.

Fonfara had been working his way back to a rematch in workmanlike fashion, beating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (TKO 9) and Nathan Cleverly (12-round decision) impressively in 2015.

"He is a heavy puncher," Fonfara said. "He hit me with a great punch. It happens. I threw some good punches, but I got too comfortable. I didn't see the punch coming. That made it a great punch."

Now, it looks like the light heavyweight division has a new player in Smith, who not only showed awesome punching power, but world-class timing and speed.

Until the right hand, Smith and Fonfara - a native of Poland who lives in Chicago - had been probing and studying each other. There was no indication that a mammoth, memorable knockout was on the way.

The upset brought back memories of 1993, when Tommy Morrison, on the brink of a title shot against Lennox Lewis, was brutalized in the first round by journeyman Michael Bentt before a home crowd in Tulsa, Okla.

"I'm disappointed because I thought I would win the fight," Fonfara said. "But it is boxing. I will rest and get back in the ring. I'll get back to work."

Said Smith: "I thought this would be more of a fight, but I took him out early and it feels great."

(Photo of Smith, left, and Fonfara by Jon Durr, Getty Images)