British ace Jason Booth put in a brave performance but narrowly lost his IBF super-bantamweight world title clash by a majority decision to Steve Molitor.
Challenger Booth started brightly and pushed the champion all the way but fell just short, with one judge scoring the contest in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, level and the others giving it to Molitor 116-113 and 116-112.
The Nottingham fighter earned his world title shot - a voluntary defence by Molitor - with a solid run of eight wins which saw him pick up the British title and defend it three times.
But it was a tough ask against the Canadian who had lost only once, against top Panamanian Celestino Caballero.
During his career, Molitor (33-1) had beaten Booth's brother Nicky in a 2002 Commonwealth title fight, while he also boasted a win over another Englishman - Michael Hunter for the IBF title four years ago.
But Booth (35-6) was undaunted and started brightly, marking Molitor near the eye in winning the second round.
His southpaw opponent then went to the body in the fifth but Booth stayed on his toes, bouncing around the ring and firing off shots when he could.
Finely-balanced affair
The champion's class was starting to show but it was a finely-balanced affair in the middle rounds, with Molitor ahead but not dominating.
Heading into the 10th, Molitor appeared to be edging a very close contest, content to come forward in short bursts and pepper shots to the head and body of Booth, who had a small cut by his right eye.
The Canadian was doing a good job of picking Booth off and upping the work-rate late in the rounds, while the challenger was generally busier.
An 11th-round head clash cut Molitor and a fraught 12th round saw both men clearly tired from their efforts.
However, when it came to the scorecards Molitor deservedly edged it, to take his title back across the Atlantic.
Afterwards, Molitor paid tribute to Booth, telling Sky Sports: "He came with a good gameplan. He was more awkward than I thought. He didn't hit hard but he was fast and creative."
Booth believed his opponent's extra power proved the difference, saying: "I thought he was getting stronger (as the fight wore on), the body shots don't hurt but they do make you blow a bit.
"With his extra power he was just winning rounds (in the last minute)."