In front of about 2000 vocal home fans, Edwards went toe to toe with Californian Rick Cheek, delivering a devastating right hand to the American midway through the opening round to knock out his opponent and claim the coveted ISKA belt.

The emotionally charged bout capped off a successful night that raised about $50,000 for the family of the late John Verran Edwards' former kickboxing coach who passed away in February.

After knocking out his opponent, Edwards was overwhelmed with the memory of his trainer and great friend.

``As soon as it happened I was crying, I saw my mate's mum and she was a bit upset and my mate's wife was hugging me, there were a few tears in the crowd and I couldn't help myself,'' Edwards said.

``I couldn't have imagined this 12 months ago. It's been five years to the weekend since my first fight and six years since I started training so it's all happening relatively quick, it's a dream come true.''

Former champion Cheek talked up his chances before the fight, calling Edwards a one-trick pony who could only win the fight with his right hand.

Edwards said he stuck to the gameplan he took into the fight and waited for the perfect opportunity to deliver his knockout blow.

``He's a lot bigger than me and he's a big kicker so I was just trying to walk straight up to him and smother him to take his kicks out of the game and turn it into a boxing match,'' Edwards said.

``I trapped him in the corner and I was trying to get him to circle to his left which put him straight onto my right hand. I saw him take the step and I just threw the right hand straight away and it landed flush on the chin.''

The next fight for Edwards is in Sydney against Tongan Sio Vitale for the World Kickboxing Federation heavyweight title next month.

After that the Queanbeyan man hopes to force his way into the K1 scene in Japan, which combines kickboxing, martial arts and traditional boxing and pits the world's best stand-up fighters against each other.

``I've been talking to some K1 guys and that's the ultimate goal, to get over there and fight on a regular basis,'' Edwards said.

``The K1's the biggest kickboxing organisation in the world, it's where all the best fighters go and a large majority of the fighters that go there have had this belt at some stage in their career so it's a very good indication of what's to come hopefully.''