By Jake Donovan

Andy Lee resurrected his career with a stunning 6th round knockout of Matt Korobov to win a vacant middleweight title Saturday evening at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The bout was competitive but still in Korobov's favor through five rounds, as Lee simply wasn't letting his hands go. 

As it turned out, it only required one punch to turn around the fight. That moment came midway through round six. A right hook wobbled Korobov, a moment from which he never recovered. 

"I've never been hurt before. I caught a bad hook to the chin, and couldn't recover," admitted Korobov, who was rocked by several more power shots before being rescued by referee Kenny Bayless.

The official time was 1:10 of round six.

Lee improves to 34-2 (24KOs), coming up huge in his second bid for a middleweight title. The Irish southpaw was stopped in seven rounds by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in his previous attempt more than two years ago. 

"This title is for the man who made me, Emanuel Steward," Lee said afterward, dedicating the fight to his former trainer who passed away in Oct. '12. 

The belt was made available after Peter Quillin decided to vacate over the summer. The decision - made at the demand of adviser Al Haymon - cost the unbeaten middleweight a $1.4 million payday that would have come with a defense versus Korobov, who stood to make $500,000 for such a fight.

Instead, Korobov (24-1, 14KOs) eats his first loss for a far lesser payday and in a bout in which he was heavily favored to win. There still remains hope for his career, but the 31-year old will have to turn things around in a hurry to prove the milk hasn't gone stale.

The bout aired live on HBO

World Championship Boxing

 in supporting capacity to the welterweight headliner between Timothy Bradley and Diego Chaves. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox