Lyon, France (BoxingGurus.com) - American Virgil Hill, a 15-1 underdog, is now world champion again after defeating France's Fabrice Tiozzo for the WBA Cruiserweight title. Hill knocked Tiozzo down three times in the first round, and with the three knockdown rule in effect, referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight 2:59 into the first round.

Virgil Hill (46-3, 22 KO), who had given Tiozzo his only loss in 1993, looked in great shape, as he used his jab to keep Tiozzo back and catch Tiozzo with big left and right hooks. Hill, from Bismark, North Dakota, hasn't fought in 18 months, but jumped on a cold Tiozzo who showed very little emotion or energy throughout the brief fight. Hill has not fought a world-class fight in almost 2½ years, when Roy Jones Jr. knocked him out in 1998, but as a former two-time world Light Heavyweight champion, Hill has now had 25 championship bouts.

Hill lands a left.   Steve Marcus (Reuters)

"I expected to win," Hill said. "In boxing anything can happen. Fabrice is a great champion and he comes prepared for every fight. I was just lucky enough to catch him early."

"They underestimated me -- but I believed in myself."

Fabrice Tiozzo (42-2, 28 KO) thought briefly of retirement after the fight. "I don't want to go out like that," the 31-year-old Frenchman said. "If there is a chance to fight him again I'd take it, even if it is in the United States.

Promoter Don King said a Hill/Tiozzo III is a possibility.