CHAMPION!

“Wow, what a dream come true.”

An ecstatic Joseph Parker — the newly crowned heavyweight champion of the world and now multi-millionaire — reacts after 12 heart-stopping rounds that had the nation on the edge of its seat.

Close to 150 years after the introduction of the Queensbury Rules we have our first New Zealand-born world heavyweight titleholder.

Joseph Parker, the 24-year-old South Aucklander, once had the world at his feet — now he has it resting on his hips in the form of the WBO belt.

His critics might point out that he remains some distance from unifying the world heavyweight championship but he is a big step closer after last night’s victory over the previously unbeaten Andy Ruiz jnr.

The “what next?” question is a conversation for the cold light of day.

In the cloying heat of Vector Arena last night it was a time for celebration. It was time to be proud of one of our own, a smiling assailant who seemingly embodies the values we cherish most in our sportsmen: humble, hard-working and, above all, good.

That humility might have made for a pre-fight build-that bordered on the mundane – with both camps intent on out-respecting each other – but as Duco promoter Dean Lonergan said last night by way of riposte, one day they’ll get a trash talker down here and we’ll criticise him for being so brash.

It is true that we often crave what we haven’t got.

The respect between Parker and Ruiz Jnr might have been still there as the bell for the first round went at 11.13pm but from that moment on the kisses were delivered with a fist.

Noted British boxing writer Hugh McIlvaney once wrote, with a double-edged undertone of respect and distaste, that “no fighters in the world are more dedicated to the raw violence of the business than Mexicans”.

Traditionally that violence has been meted out in the lower weight classes, so Ruiz jnr is something of a mould breaker.

What was in keeping with his reputation was his relentless attempts to get on the front foot, to make Parker uncomfortable, to get pounding away with hands like mallets.

Parker, on the other hand, had to try to keep Ruiz jnr at a distance, where his left jab could snap snakelike at his opponents face.

When Ruiz jnr started strongly, a state of barely suppressed anxiety settled over the arena. When the fight ended still nobody knew for certain. Parker was unmarked. Ruiz jnr’s face was a seething collection of welts but had his aggression swayed the judges? One scored it a 114-114 draw, two had it 115-113. Parker got the call. It will be argued. At 12.05am, December 11, 2016, New Zealand had our champion and one other thing is certain: the country has developed an appetite for fight nights.

The arena provided an almost incongruous sight with more than 130 corporate tables on the floor and the proletariat looking down from the bleachers.

The clink of cutlery on china provided a constant soundtrack to the evening.

It was shades of John Lennon at the 1963 Royal Variety Performance:

“Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And for the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewellery.”

World rugby player of the year Beauden Barrett was, as is expected, in the right place at the right time and there was even a muted cheer for Prime Minister-elect Bill English, who is already grasping John Key’s love of a sporting photo opportunity.

For so long English has held the keys to this country’s finances and, yes, there was a lot of cash floating around on the floor of Vector Arena last night but it is not just the bow-tied who now have access to riches.

Parker has opened the door to the sort of prize-fights he could have only dreamed about as a promising but unfocused amateur.

He’s now a champion; he’s soon going to be a multimillionaire.

The boy from Papatoetoe has done good.

Joseph Parker has achieved his childhood dream of becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. In an extraordinarily close fight in which Parker fought mostly on the back foot for all 12 rounds, prevailed by decision over Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr.

It was a clash of styles — Ruiz Jr wanted a brawl, Parker clearly wanted to outbox. In the end he won by the closest of margins — majority decision.

His corner, in the ring for the decision, erupted at the result. Judges Salven Lagumbay scored it 114-114, and Ramon Cerdan and Ingo Barrabas scored it 115-113.

Ruiz Jr was extremely gracious in the ring afterwards and will New Zealand with the respect of the country. He is one tough customer.

“New Zealand, thank you,” Parker said in the ring.

“A dream come true,” he said. “Thanks you to Andy Ruiz and his team for putting on a hard fight. I told you Andy was a great fighter with a lot of speed and he showed that tonight.”

Trainer Kevin Barry said: “I told him to stick to the game plan, not follow Andy’s.”

Parker did. He showed enormous confidence and belief in himself and his game plan by not being too impatient, despite his slow start. Ruiz Jr won perhaps the first three or four rounds before Parker came back into it, scoring with his razor-sharp jab and occasionally with his right hand.

Parker’s first outright winning round was the fifth, and the crowd’s cheering of every punch he landed would have helped. In the sixth he found his range nicely, keeping Ruiz Jr at distance, but both men traded with about 30 seconds left.

Parker, keeping Ruiz Jr away with relative ease now, created a graze above Ruiz Jr’s right eye in the seventh but couldn’t capitalise and it was another extremely close round.

Round eight and nine was again very close, with Parker perhaps shading the latter.

Parker won the 10th, landing several big right hands, but Ruiz Jr showed an extraordinary toughness in comfortably shaking them off.

Parker shaded the 11th, landing a beautiful left, right combination. Both men were unhurt and clearly expecting the fight to go the distance. The final, championship, round belonged to Parker, but it would have been an extremely nervous waight for him and his team until referee Tony Weeks raised his hand as the new WBO heavyweight champion.

“Joseph is going to have a break because he really deserves some time off,” Barry said. This was his man’s fifth fight of the year and he looked a little flat at times. The break looks deserved.

Turning professional only four years ago, Parker has created history.

He is the first New Zealand-born fighter to win a world heavyweight title. His victory also makes the 24-year-old south Aucklander one of the youngest to win the title for the first time.

Mike Tyson holds the record with his victory over Trevor Berbick as a 20-year-old, but Parker easily makes the top 10 alongside the likes of Michael Moorer and Leon Spinks, both of whom reached the summit at 24.

Parker is now undefeated after 22 professional fights and has the world as his feet. Ruiz Jr, who trained as hard as he ever has for this fight, moves to a 29-1 record.

In front of a crowd of 10,000 and a worldwide audience of millions, Parker walked to the ring with a smile on his face and delivered what he promised to do; a triumph which will resonate here and around the globe.

As usual he was incredibly relaxed before the fight. Before he watched his younger brother, John, win his catchweight contest against Ash McConville in the first televised bout of the evening, he sent a text to his promoter and friend David Higgins.

The gist of it was that he had a “special feeling”, and that victory was “meant to be”.