By Brock Ellis

During his entire professional career, he played the role of the underdog. For Rivan "All Hail" Cessaire, the Australian Fight Series was not only the life-line that his career so desperately needed - but a chance to show the boxing public that he is one of the leading welterweights that Australia has to offer.

At Altona North's Grand Star Receptions, he proved exactly that as he outpointed the Series favourite Tim "The Hunter" Hunt over ten fast-paced rounds to not only capture the IBO Asia Pacific welterweight title, but win the inaugural Australian Fight Series championship belt.

The Australian Fight Series was founded by promoter Adam Wilcock of Fight Card Promotions last February with the concept of pitting Australia's top-eight welterweight contenders against each other in a round-robin format.

Each fighter would receive a guarantee of four-fights with the eventual winner to be showcased in the US by "Fight Club OC" promoter Roy Englebrecht.

Hunt, 24, progressed to the Series final with wins over former Australian welterweight titlist Matthew Paulley and Alex Ahtong. Hunt (12-3, 4 KOs) outpointed Ahtong for the second time last month to cement his place in the final.

Cessaire, 30, earnt his way into the final with wins over former Australian champion Brad Hemming, two-time Australian title challenger Jason Kanofski and claimed the biggest scalp of the Series when he outpointed the previously unbeaten former Olympian Todd Kidd in June.

The two were scheduled for a rematch, however Kidd suffered a deep-cut in their contest which was unable to heal in time. Therefore, Cessaire (10-3, 3 KOs), who represented his native Cameroon at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - progressed to the final uncontested.

With both fighters coming off considerable win-streaks, the final appeared certain to provide fireworks - and it did exactly that with both Hunt and Cessaire refusing to give up an inch.

From the opening bell, Hunt was the aggressor. To the surprise of many, Cessaire - who usually boxes from an unorthodox stance and almost always on the back foot, opted to stand toe-to-toe with Hunt. Hunt was the busier of the two throughout the opening rounds, but had a lot of trouble landing anything of significance on the Melbourne-based Cameroonian.

The fight was a back-and-forth affair, with Hunt looking to impose his will as he continually tried to back Cessaire up against the ropes, while Cessaire looked to counter his front-footed opponent with effective right hands coming in.

In the end, Cessaire was simply faster and more evasive in a bout where neither fighters seemed legitimately hurt or managed to score a knockdown. The capacity crowd cheered wildy every time Hunt pinned Cessaire against the ropes and let his hands go. To Cessaire's credit,  a lot of those shots missed and he was able to counter effectively - having plenty of success with his right-hand, which opened up a deep cut over Hunt's left-eye.

Hunt managed to get through Cessaire's defences in the later rounds as Cessaire ducked and weaved at almost every opportunity. Whenever Cessaire went towards the ropes, Hunt would launch flurries of punches at a time, but struggled to land his left-hook - which in recent times has become one of his better punches.

As the final two rounds fastly approached, Hunt tried getting Cessaire into a brawl. But Cessaire, who appeared to be slightly ahead by this stage - was having no part of it as he remained content to pick his punches and fight effectively in spurts.

After ten hellacious rounds, Cessaire was declared a split points winner with judges Henry Nissan and Andrew Campbell scoring the fight 97-96 and 98-92 respectively - while judge Bryan Membrey had it 98-95 in favour of Hunt, who loses for the first time in almost three years.

Any plans for the winner to head over to the US would surely have to be put on hold as there is sure to be demand for an immediate rematch.

Boxing has always thrived on rivalry and the Australian Fight Series brought something new to the sport in this country which hasn't been seen in some time. With a few minor tweaks and adjustments, a great amount of success is only just around the corner.

Follow Brock Ellis on Twitter @brockellis01.