Unbeaten US southpaw Charles Martin won the vacant International Boxing Federation heavyweight title Saturday when Ukraine's Vyacheslav Glazkov stopped after suffering a right knee injury.
Martin won his 17th fight in a row, his first for a world title, and made his 13th early stoppage when Glazkov said he could not continue after 1min 50secs of the third round.
Glazkov stepped onto the right foot of Martin with his left and when he shifted weight to his right leg, it buckled and twisted, sending him to the canvas for the first time in his career off a modest punch.
"Oooooh. Damn. That was a (American) football injury," Martin said when seeing a replay of the injury. "I'm sorry for him that he couldn't finish the fight. It's unfortunate."
Glazkov rose and limped, then tried to continue. He went down again moments later and when he rose said he could not continue, grimmacing as he took a seat in his corner while Martin celebrated.
Martin, 29, improved to 23-0 with one drawn after his 21st win inside the distance. Glazkov, 31, fell to 21-1 with what ringside doctors said could be torn knee ligaments.
"I still wanted to fight. I was just going to get stronger as the rounds went on," Martin said.
"(I want to) unify it man," Martin said. "I didn't even get to fight. I want a fight."
Britain's Tyson Fury vacated the IBF crown after defeating Wladimir Klitschko rather than fight mandatory challenger Glazgov, preferring a richer payday from a Klitschko rematch for the World Boxing Association belt and several lesser-regarded titles.
Not since Britain's Lennox Lewis in 2000 has there been an undisputed heavyweight champion.

Source: AFP