The pair collided in a genuine 12-round barnburner at the home of Southampton FC, a clash for the WBC’s interim super featherweight title, and it was Garner who got the nod on all three cards.

Mark Bates had it 116-112 while the cards of Jorge Gorini (118-110) and Guido Cavalleri (119-109) perhaps did not tell the story of this always competitive clash.

“If it wasn’t for Southampton, this would never have happened,” an emotional Garner said afterward, and he was right.

May was a turbulent month for the city as Southampton Football Club were expelled from the Championship playoffs after they were caught spying on their semifinal opponents Middlesbrough during training.

Garner (20-0, 10 KOs) told The Ring during the build-up to this fight, his dream clash at the home of the boyhood club, that he hoped the event would give Saints fans a different sporting event to focus on before the new football season kicks off in eight weeks.

Magnesi, meanwhile, does not care for football whatsoever. The Italian contender admitted he had never even heard of Southampton before he had been matched with Garner, The Ring’s No. 8-rated junior lightweight.

But Magnesi (26-3, 12 KOs) was happy to take center stage alongside Garner as St Mary’s became the latest English football stadium to host big-time boxing. The likes of Doncaster’s Keepmoat, Barnsley’s Oakwell and Portman Road, home of Ipswich Town, joined the list over the past couple of years.

“He’s one of our own,” the crowd roared as the 28-year-old Garner made a bright start in the middle of the stadium he has been attending for more than two decades. He even spent time playing for the club’s academy before boxing took over his life.

It was clear that Garner was keen to impress on his dream occasion as he applied the pressure on Magnesi, himself an archetypal pressure fighter. The visitor, who spent the last 30 seconds of the opener with his back against the ropes, grinned as he marched back to his corner when the bell rang to end the round.

Magnesi’s last visit to Britain ended in defeat, the first of his career, as Anthony Cacace beat him via split decision in Manchester in September 2022. This was an altogether different proposition, as Garner met fire with fire from the start. Although it was the hometown hero who was dominating, he got caught by a big counter hook with Magnesi backed up against the ropes.

It was a warning shot from the “Lone Wolf,” who arrived on England’s south coast as the WBC’s No. 1 contender for O’Shaquie Foster’s WBC 130-pound title. The third quickly settled into the same pattern, with Magnesi against the ropes but always dangerous on the counter.

The pace was so high that there was a sense that something had to give. Even Frank Warren, Garner’s promoter since he turned professional at the age of 18, was on his feet applauding at the end of the third.

There was no let-up through four and five, either, with both men spending much of the rounds literally head-to-head, deep in the pocket, ripping away at each other from close range. In a moment of acknowledgement, the pair smiled at each other as the bell closed the fifth.

“You can outbox him easily Ryan,” coach Wayne Batten told Garner before the start of the sixth, as he implored his fighter to keep the contest long. For a moment, Garner did his best, but it was not long before the firefight restarted.

Magnesi, 31, was equal to everything Garner threw, but as the fight entered its final third, it was clear that the Italian was starting to gradually slow down. Garner, “The Piranha,” could smell blood and decided to put his foot down at the start of the ninth, landing with a bruising barrage from both hands. The visitor seemed incapable of moving his head and Garner simply could not miss.

Even so, Magnesi could not be dropped, much less stopped as the pair went the distance. By the 12th the pace had slowed, though there was still action to the very last with Magnesi landing with a big left hook as he searched for a smash-and-grab stoppage that never came. Garner, however, was a worthy winner and can now look forward to a shot at Foster’s title.