SYDNEY: Australian titleholder Danny Green scored a stunning first round win over American great Roy Jones to retain his IBO cruiserweight world title here on Wednesday.

Green put down the eight-time world champion with a well-timed right hand which sent Jones to the canvas midway through the opening round and then pummelled the American legend with a flurry of blows against the ropes. Referee Howard Foster called a halt to the fight at 2:02 into the first round.

It was the 36-year-old Green’s first defence of the title he won with a fifth round TKO against Argentina’s Julio Cesar Dominguez last August. It was only the third time in his 20-year fight career that Jones, 40, has been stopped in a fight following his earlier stoppages against Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, both in 2004. Jones was bidding to become the first boxer to win all five divisions between middleweight and heavyweight, but he was overwhelmed by Green’s first-round onslaught.