Norfolk fighter Emma Dolan's defence of her British super-flyweight title was over as fast as it started on Saturday night at Sheffield's Utilita Arena.
It will be a further blow to Dolan that she was also unsuccessful in regaining her Commonwealth belt, vacated earlier this year.
Her opponent, Shannon Ryan, entering on a four-fight winning streak, quickly made it five in double time.
Hitting her straps early, the Watford-based fighter took out a shell-shocked Dolan in just 46 seconds of the opening round.
Just moments earlier, it had looked so different, as the Dereham boxer strode out purposefully to the ring to Fat Boy Slim's 'Right Here, Right Now'.
That intensity continued as a locked-in and focused Dolan stared the much shorter but heavily-muscled Ryan down, as referee Howard Foster issued pre-fight instructions ahead of their long-awaited rematch.
At the sound of the opening bell, both combatants sought to occupy the centre of the ring and exert their dominance.
Both women fell short in these opening skirmishes as they struggled to find their range.
It was unfortunate for Dolan that the first punch to land was a jolting right hook to her jaw that staggered her badly, and, accompanied by a cuffing left to the top of her head, sent her tumbling heavily onto the canvas.
The brave Dolan rose as the count reached six, and eeferee Foster waved Ryan in to continue hostilities.
Ringside commentator Barry Jones immediately remarked: "Dolan's got up too early".
That was soon proved correct as a clearly still shaken Dolan immediately walked onto a barnstorming overhand right and wilted again. Dolan, to her credit, picked herself up again to rise on the count of eight.
She was visibly hurt but tried to convince the referee of her fitness to carry on. However, he had seen enough and waved the fight off at the same time as Dolan's corner threw in the towel.
Dolan looked on disbelievingly at the early stoppage and the shattering of her dream - but given time to reflect she should have no complaints.
For all that planning, effort, and training to unravel so abruptly can only be the bitterest of pills to swallow for the Norfolk fighter.
This was meant to be the year her world title dreams came to fruition, instead she ends it without her British title.
With this reverse following so quickly on the heels of her unsuccessful IBF world title tilt against Irma Garcia back in April, also by early stoppage, the road ahead is a challenging one.
Dolan and her tight-knit team, led by trainer and manager Carl Greaves, will require much soul-searching before they determine what comes next.
At 28, Dolan still has youth on her side, but without any belts, the now former-British and Commonwealth champion has a heavy period of re-building to consider.
None of it will be glamorous, and all of it will need to be completed on what the sport still refers to as the 'small hall' circuit of leisure centres and banqueting suites.
It is a world away from this weekend's DAZN-televised fight or her earlier battle for the big prize at Olympia.
Nevertheless, it is a world that Dolan is well-acquainted with.
But this time, having seen the other side, does she have the patience or the will to do it all again?
To wait in line for a chance that will only likely be provided to her on negative terms by promoters.
Knowing the sacrifice, and how hard she has scrabbled for these moments, only to have them so publicly ripped away from her, must today feel unbearable.
Still, Dolan, who has boxed since she was a nervous nine-year-old in a gym full of boys, has plenty to be proud of.
She can hold her head high as a trailblazer. As the first woman to win Commonwealth and British titles at 115 lbs.
These feats remain permanently in the record books and not even the bleakest of weekends can diminish them.
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