Whitehead overcame a standing eight count in round seven to become the first boxer to defeat Haumano, a former NRL star, in 17 bouts.

“It’s easily the best win of my career,” Whitehead, who also won a bronze medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, said yesterday.

“To beat an opponent as good as him over 10 rounds is big for me.

“I probably won the first five rounds then he won rounds six, seven and eight. I had an eight count in round seven.”

He’s a very powerful man . . . he’d won 14 of his 16 fights by knockout and we knew at some stage I was going to cop some treatment from him.

“He got me a couple of good blows in rounds six and seven and it wasn’t looking good there for a little while.

"But I got back on board and won rounds nine and 10 to get the decision.”

The victory now puts Whitehead, who is already the holder of the WBF Asia Pacific heavyweight title, in the box seat to challenge John Hopoate for the Australian heavyweight title.

"My goal is to fight for the Australian title and he (Hopoate) is the Australian title holder at this stage,” Whitehead said.

“I should be ranked number four or five in Australia now.

“He has 12 months to defend his title and it’s now a matter of my promoter sitting down with his promoter and seeing if we can come up with the right deal.

“Beating Haumano puts the pressure on Hopoate to fight us.”

Three years ago Whitehead was ready to hang up his gloves, but linking with Echuca-based Barry Quinlan and Chris Burns reinvigorated his love for the sport.

“These boys from Echuca have got me going again,” Whitehead said.

“The time and effort they’ve put in is second to none. You need blokes like them around you to keep your enthusiasm up.

"We’re starting to reap the benefits of all the hard work.

“The bloke we beat at the weekend is a full-time elite athlete. We still have to work and train and all those things. To beat a guy who was 16-0 over 10 rounds... just shows we’re heading in the right direction.”