Lewis Crocker is revelling in the moment after winning the IBF welterweight title.

On Saturday night, the Belfast fighter produced a composed display of counter-punching to upset Paddy Donovan and claim the vacant belt.

In March, Crocker had been hurt and dropped by Donovan but found himself the beneficiary of a disqualification victory when he was floored heavily by a punch that landed after the bell to end round eight.

Before the opening bell sounded last weekend, many seemed to be treating the rematch as a coronation night for the gifted Limerick man.

Ignoring the pre-fight noise, Crocker calmly stuck to the game plan his trainer, Billy Nelson, had devised. Rather than applying pressure and winging in power shots, he waited for Donovan and as the pre-fight favourite struggled to adjust and find his timing and range, Crocker found the mark almost immediately.

He dropped Donovan twice with well timed left hooks and, in the end, those knockdowns that earned him a famous split decision victory.

Crocker admits that he has watched the footage of himself sinking to the canvas as the verdict was announced countless times and that accomplishing a lifelong dream in front of 20,000 of his hometown fans feels even better than he could have imagined.

“A million times better and especially as I was a huge underdog going into the fight,” Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs) said on DAZN.

“That was my moment in life. I knew I could box. Paddy’s a world-class fighter and he will come back and he'll win a world title so to do that and just prove people wrong [is amazing]. Once I got out there and saw the crowd and everything, it was just like, “this is my moment" and I was ready to go.”

Earlier this week, Crocker’s manager, Jamie Conlan, told The Ring, that in an ideal world the 28-year-old would make a voluntary defence of his title at Belfast’s SSE Arena before Christmas.

Although his fellow Belfast man and former IBF titleholder, Anthony Cacace, remains one of the world’s top junior lightweights, Crocker and WBA featherweight champion, Nick Ball, are the United Kingdom’s only current world title holders

Belfast is home to some of the loudest, most fanatical fans in world boxing but it has been deprived on major events in recent years.

The hope is that Crocker’s new status will once again bring glory nights back to the city and kick down the door for a new generation of talented fighters to follow in his wake.

“It's great for my city as well because it gives people another opportunity to be on them and get them the publicity and follow in my footsteps now,” he said.

“Ryan Burnett was the IBF world champion. So were Carl Frampton and Anthony Cacace and for my name to be on that list now is history.”