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Naoya Inoue recovered from an early knockdown to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight title after a sixth-round stoppage win against Luis Nery in front of jubilant home crowd in Japan.
The 31-year-old was almost on the receiving end of a huge shock after taking a tumble when Nery executed a superb left hook, but bounced back to seal a dominant win at the Tokyo Dome.
It extends Inoue's record to 27-0 and will now turn attention to a title defence against the Australian Sam Goodman, who joined the Japanese fighter in the ring ahead of their bout in September.
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The Mexican shaded the opening round and unleashed an early flurry of punches before the bell to push Inoue back into the corner, but that was as good as it got for the challenger.
Inoue returned the favour with a devastating left hook of his own to send Nery down onto the canvas, as he ruthless exploited an opening.
The reigning champion had found his flow in round three and managed everything which Nery was throwing in his direction, and the latter was taking plenty of punishment in round four too.
Nery appeared to be fighting a lose battle in round five, with Nery landing some clinical combinations with unerring accuracy.
The 29-year-old was back in the canvas again and was saved by the bell, hanging on this contest by the skin of his teeth.
However, this only prolonged the inevitable as Inoue finished off the bout with a brutal right hand strike to seal a win via a sixth-round technical knockout.
Speaking after the fight, the reigning champion explained how that early knockdown served as a wake-up call.
“I was not happy I got knocked down," said Inoue after the fight.
"That happening gave me good motivation. I am so thankful to get the fight against Nery."
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