LONDON, England - Adam Azim maintained his steady march towards world title level by stopping Kurt Scoby in the last of these 12 one-sided rounds on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr.-Conor Benn.

The Ring’s No.10-ranked junior welterweight barely put a foot wrong over the course of 12 rounds at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but looked to be heading towards a unanimous decision win.

That was until he finally forced a breakthrough against the teak-tough Scoby, who was forced to take a knee, with just 51 seconds left of the encounter. Now, with victory secured, Azim (14-0, 11 KOs) can now look ahead to a huge 2026.

In his first fight since a career-best victory over Sergey Lipinets in February, Azim settled quickly into a rhythm behind a long, hard jab.

Scoby, a late replacement following the withdrawal of Zaur Abdullaev, tucked up for most of the round and it was not until the final 15 seconds that he bothered throwing a punch at all. It missed.

Azim had been set to fight in June but the fight was pulled by the British Boxing Board of Control when his Mexican opponent was photographed using a sauna to make weight. But there were few signs of ring rust here as he methodically stalked the visitor from Massachusetts.

This was quickly turning into target practice for the man from Slough, although not many of his shots were landing clean or piercing Scoby’s guard at all. Given Scoby was not attempting to engage, it meant another round of one-way traffic.

He did, however, enjoy some early success in the third, landing a right hook to the body and then one to the head as he finally decided the time was right to make his move. All of a sudden, Azim found himself in a fight but the ambition from Scoby was now providing openings for him to exploit.

It was high stakes, low output fare in the fourth, with a premium on exchanges. There was power and intent behind everything that was thrown but not much was landing.

After Scoby had shown some fleeting ambition, Azim was fully in control by the time the fifth ended, with the stadium filling steadily as a light rain began to descend on north London.

Perhaps sensing the fight slipping away, Scoby went back on the attack in the sixth but all he got for his troubles was a hard left-hook counter from Azim.

The undefeated Azim decided to up his output in the seventh, pinning Scoby against the ropes and whipping hooks to the body. He was inches away from landing with a big right hand on the counter before the round ended too.

He went back to the body in the eighth and made significant inroads with his left hook, which he sunk beneath Scoby’s right elbow regularly. The visitor was soaking up the punishment well but was back to offering little by way of attack.

It was more of the same in the ninth, but Scoby was even starting to beckon Azim in as the 23-year-old continued to find a home for his hooks to the body. He went back to the head in the 10th and ended the round by landing a big left hook to Scoby’s temple.

Azim seemed to have forced his breakthrough midway through the 11th when a slashing right hand stiffened Scoby’s legs but he managed to hold on for dear life to stay on his feet.

But that simply proved to be the prelude to a big finish for Azim, who finally made the pressure count, stunning Scoby and then jumping on him in search of a finish as the fight entered its final minute. In the end, the American had no choice but to retreat to one knee and he failed to rise before the end of the count.