Martin J Ward clung onto his unbeaten record after battling to a draw with Maxi Hughes in their British super-featherweight title eliminator.
The Brentwood man was on the receiving end of two controversial knockdowns, with the first caused by a head clash and the second a clear slip, but still did enough to avoid defeat on the scorecards.
Ward received one score of 95-94, but two further tallies of 95-95 and 94-94 meant there was no winner at York Hall in Bethnal Green.
The 23-year-old prospect had made a confident start, showing his neat footwork by skipping out of range after some eye-catching punches in the opener.
But he was dumped to the canvas in crude fashion during the second round. As Hughes lunged forward, his head clashed with Ward and a follow up right hand sent him tumbling backwards. The dazed Brentwood man clung on in the closing seconds, with Hughes trying to take advantage of his foe's poor fortune.
Into the third, Hughes tried to pile on more pressure, but Ward had regained his composure and held him at bay with a crisp jab.
Just as Ward appeared to regain command, he suffered another cruel setback. A fired-up Hughes launched another attack in the fourth and the backpeddling Ward slipped to the canvas. The referee incorrectly ruled it as a knockdown, much to his dismay.
Behind on the cards, the youngster was becoming increasingly desperate and was tagged by more right hands in the fifth, while he was caught by some sharp left counters from Hughes in the sixth.
But Ward gradually started to gain a foothold in the seventh, working well behind a precise jab and ripped in some body shots in the eighth.
A tiring Hughes was picked off by more jabs in the ninth round and Ward dug deep in the last, with both men throwing weary punches until the final bell.