Then he lifted 229kg above his head, and saved face for New Zealand's weightlifters.
Going into the final event of the Commonwealth Games competition they had no medals from 11 events.
Fellow Pacific nations Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea already had golds, Nauru had a silver and Solomon Islands had a bronze.
The country's reputation sat in Liti's grip during the final 105kg+ category.
He offered nothing short of outrageous courage and brilliant theatre to secure gold in a sport he once thought was "boring".
With apologies to Led Zeppelin, his job was to be a rock and not to roll for the Kiwi contingent last night at the Carrara Sport and Leisure Centre.
He relaxed, and delivered.
"I realised I had that pressure on me a few weeks ago, and I couldn't come here and be all angry and lift weights.
"I've got to have fun and be happy with the result."
Liti's first snatch saw him put 166kg on the bar – 1kg more than his own mass. He lifted it like lint off a jersey.
Bizarrely, he was denied a second lift courteous of a timing glitch.
"My coach [Tina Ball] didn't realise someone had moved up [the order of lifting] until it was too late to change."
He popped his earphones aside, returned to ping up 174kg and blew a kiss at the judges.
"Kendrick Lamar was pumping me up. Some people think he's an angry rapper, but I think he's a happy-go-lucky dude.
"I had visions of the anthem playing in my head. I can't believe it actually happened."
Liti said he came back to weightlifting after a spell playing rugby.
"As a kid you want to do fun things that are active. Weightlifting wasn't cutting it, but I eventually realised I liked it. There's not much running and you don't have to know many plays. It's just lift the weights and sit down."
"It's been this dream and a plan of mine before David knew he was a weightlifter," Ball added.
"I knew he could do it. He has a fantastic competition head, he was ready."
Liti duelled with Pakistan's Muhammad Nooh Dastgir Butt and Samoa's Lui Lauititi as they ratcheted up the plates and swapped the lead among themselves.
Lui sat in the gold medal position, but passed out on stage with his final lift. After medical staff had removed his groggy form via wheelchair, Liti was faced with a Commonwealth record 229kg from his final attempt.
His composure remain resolute and he posted the bar up to triumph with a combined weight of 403kg.
Butt lifted last, but unsuccessfully.
New Zealand needed a new champion to take the mantle from Richie Patterson. They found it in Liti.
