Everybody loves an underdog, regardless of the sport.

“On paper we had a two per cent chance of winning that fight,” said Jason Heit with a grin.

So where better to test the odds than Las Vegas?

“It was a gamble,” Heit said.

It’s a gamble the Victoria boxing coach is still smiling about after Saturday night, when Victoria heavyweight Brandon Colantonio stepped onto one of the sport’s brightest stages.

Colantonio earned the opportunity of a lifetime. A coveted spot on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Mario Barrios at T-Mobile Arena.

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If Colantonio’s name sounds familiar, it should. CHEK News has featured him before. The 29-year-old is represented by Champ Promotions and has fought three times in the last three months, including live on CHEK last Nov. 8 when he fought for a WBC Bridgerweight title at the Bay Street Armoury.

That fight ended in a no-decision, but Colantonio was the clear crowd favourite.

On the surface, he’s got a bit of a schtick. The blue-collar brawler with the “Rocky” vibe, complete with “Italian Stallion” branding.

“It’s the real life Rocky story,” Heit said.

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Only it’s not a gimmick.

“I think people can really relate to the guy that works 10 hours a day, goes for a run in the morning, comes and trains at night. Just working his butt off,” Heit said.

The plan in Vegas? Schtick and move.

Standing across the ring was American heavyweight Joshua Edwards, a Pan Am Games gold medallist, U.S. Olympian, and the prized protégé of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. Edwards entered the bout 5-0 with five knockouts. None of his previous fights had lasted beyond three rounds.

An absolute killer.

So how do you approach that?

Colantonio laughed at the question.

The broadcast commentators weren’t overly kind early on, even stumbling over his name at first. Online, the jabs came quickly too.

“They’re making fun of how I look, right? And that’s fair. I play the Rocky character,” Colantonio said.

But there was one thing he didn’t bring to Vegas: fear.

“I’m not scared of anybody. You shouldn’t be at this level if you’re trying to achieve big things and be a world champion. You can’t be fearful of anything.”

Colantonio knew he was going to get hit, and hit hard. The opening rounds were rocky in every sense of the word. Big right hands landed. The American pressed forward.

But for a fighter known for a bottomless gas tank, the later rounds are where he comes alive.

In the fifth and sixth, Colantonio began to connect. The pace shifted. The underdog pushed back.

When the final bell rang, Colantonio had done something no one else had managed: he became the first fighter ever to go the distance with Joshua Edwards.

And if the fight had been scheduled for 10 rounds?

“If that was a 10-round fight, that would have been my fight,” Colantonio said.

From the blue collar to the blue corner, the boxing world has taken notice. A unanimous decision loss had never felt more like a win.

World Boxing News splashed his name across its front page. Bigger fights are expected to follow.

The bandwagon is filling up.

Just don’t expect to get your hands on one of those “Italian Stallion” shirts.

“We’ve gotta figure out if it’s copyrighted,” Heit joked.

That might be the only fight he doesn’t want.