"The Midnight Train" spent the first few rounds feeling out the situation before finding a breakthrough in the fifth round of their clash, on the undercard of Tyson Fury's showdown with Arslanbek Makhmudov.

TKV managed to beat the count after receiving his OBE—One Behind the Ear—but Riakporhe refused to let him off the hook and forced a stoppage a minute later live on Netflix.

He said: “Two-time British champion sounds amazing.

“I want to dedicate this fight to my dad and my brother, they’ve always been strong men who have guided me on the path to greatness. Thank you.

“I’m 3-0 in the heavyweight division with three knockouts. The plan is to carry on knocking these guys out.”

There was no pre-fight bad blood between these two who have known each other for many years. When they first met, Riakporhe was a cruiserweight and did not envisage ever crossing paths with TKV as a professional.

But after 18 fights as a 200-pounder, where he picked up the British title and challenged for the world title, the man from south London moved up to heavyweight in May. He won his first two fights in the new division, with his most recent outing coming here at Spurs when he knocked out Tommy Welch in the second round of their clash on the undercard of Conor Benn’s November victory over Chris Eubank Jr.

His explosive form at heavyweight ensured he started this fight as a wide favourite, despite his position as challenger. This was the first defence for TKV following his split decision victory over Frazer Clarke for the vacant belt in Derby six months ago.

This was a real homecoming for the 32-year-old former wrestler, who grew up a stone’s throw away from the stadium at the infamous Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, while he spent his formative years at the White Hart Lane Boxing Club just down the road.

He made a tentative start against noted puncher Riakporhe, who went close with a couple of sharp right hands which skimmed past the champion’s head in the first round. They were both down midway through an untidy opening session due to a tangle of legs.

Riakporhe was continuing to look for a right hand counter over the top as TKV worked the body of his rangier opponent but, through three rounds, the challenger had not managed to find a home for anything meaningful with either hand.

But, in his attempts to close the distance, TKV’s head became a problem and referee Lee Every did not hesitate to deduct a point from him in the fourth round for using it.

And things went from bad to worse for the defending champion after a minute of the fifth when a right hook, which appeared to land close to the back of his head, sent him to his knees. Up he climbed but Riakporhe went straight back to his attack and, with nearly two minutes left of the round, it turned into target practice.

TKV valiantly stayed on his feet under the heavy pressure but Every decided enough was enough after 2:12 of the fifth. The result compounded a miserable weekend all round for Tottenham, whose football team dropped into the Premier League relegation zone for the first time in more than a decade on Friday.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace fan Riakporhe can look forward to more big domestic clashes as he chases down world title opportunities.

“I want to challenge for the heavyweight world title and I’ll be keeping an eye on Fabio Wardley against Daniel Dubois and I’d love to fight the winner,” he said of that encounter in Manchester on May 9.

“If I don’t get that fight then I like Johnny Fisher. Him and his dad, I love what they do, they killed the social media game.

“They’ve always wanted to win the British belt so I’d love to give them that opportunity.”

CompuBox stats: Riakporhe was the busier, more active fighter throughout, out-landing Tshikeva 63-35. Riakporhe finished with a 31-11 edge in power punch connects. The majority of these were landed in the fifth round, when Riakporhe put Tshikeva down with a clubbing right hand. He then followed up with a barrage that Tshikeva appeared to be weathering before the referee halted the bout at 2:12 of round five.