On November 19, 2005, Brock faced David Bostice for IBA Continental Americas heavyweight title, making it a first fight in Brock's professional career with a title, albeit lightly regarded, on the line. Bostice, who had a 35–9–1 record coming into the fight, was described as a "tough veteran", with most of his previous losses coming at the hands of former world heavyweight champions and contenders, such as Wladimir Klitschko, Tim Witherspoon, Francois Botha and Jeremy Williams. The fight took place at the Cricket Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, Brock's hometown. Both fighters fought aggressively from the opening bell, with Brock appearing to be doing the better work in the early rounds, going back-and-forth between combinations to the head and body and not allowing Bostice to fire back. Brock appeared to be tired going into the middle rounds, fighting rather defensively, but picked up his pace after the seventh, hurting Bostice several times and almost stopping him in the ninth round. The twelfth round saw both fighters slugging it out, with the crowd chanting "Calvin! Calvin! Calvin!". The fight ultimately went the distance, with Brock being declared the winner by unanimous decision, with scores 118–110 (twice) and 116–112. The fight was widely praised for being a slugfest.