Naoya Inoue recovered from an opening round disaster to beat Luis Nery.
Inoue defended his undisputed super-bantamweight titles for the first time against Mexican challenger Nery at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
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The Japanese fighter was left stunned after being sent to the canvas in just minutes after being on the receiving end of a well-timed left hand from the challenger.
But despite fears that Nery would emulate Buster Douglas' famous upset over Mike Tyson, Inoue scored a frightening one-punch KO in the sixth to end the show after dropping his rival twice beforehand.
In the first stanza, Inoue was left stunned after being dropped to the canvas by a left hook early on.
He was clearly hurt and Nery landed the first knockdown in the career of the seemingly invincible champion, but managed to survive until the bell of the opener.
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The Mexican was next to go down in a quick turnaround for Inoue in the second, who landed his own perfectly timed counter left hand of his own which sent Nery scrambling down to the canvas.
Inoue took control of the contest after the knockdown and looked the far superior fighter in the fourth period, even audaciously showboating to the delight of the home crowd.
Nery dropped to a knee a second time as Inoue scored another knockdown in the fifth with another crisp left hand.
The sixth round saw the end of the fight, as ‘The Monster’ piled on the pressure and dropped his rival to the canvas for a final time.
The challenger failed to climb back to his feet and the referee waved off the contest to give the champion his latest win.
It was a seriously big scare for the pound-for-pound star, but he once again showed elite skill and resilience to completely flip the script and rally to a stoppage.
Shortly after the final bell, Inoue delivered his post-fight interview and it was declared that he will next take on Australian challenger Sam Goodman in September.
Goodman has earned his shot by mandatory, and the fight is reportedly being targeted for a huge stadium down under.
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It would be Inoue's first appearance in the continent, and it will likely generate huge interest given his star power.
Goodman's promoter George Rose said prior to Inoue's win over Nery: “This would be a huge coup for not only Australian boxing, but Australian sport. Inoue is a once-in-a-generation fighter.
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“It’s why the guy is packing out stadiums in Japan, why he has such a huge following globally and why whenever he takes a world title fight, it’s something the whole world tunes in for.
"The aura he has at the moment, the fighter you compare him to is Manny Pacquiao. This is the fight Sam wants and one we want in Australia.”
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