Friday 2 January 2015 17:16, UK
Guillermo Rigondeaux battled back from two knockdowns to retain his WBO and WBA super-bantamweight titles against Hisashi Amagasa in Japan.
The double Olympic champion from Cuba, who defected and now lives in Miami, looked to be in control for the first six rounds in Osaka but he was stunned by a fine shot to the chin in the seventh and went down again before the end of the round, albeit claiming to have slipped.
Rigondeaux was giving up more than six inches in height to Amagasa, who had dropped down a weight to challenge him, and the Japanese fighter came out aggressively, trying to make the most of his obvious advantage.
But Rigondeaux found a length he was comfortable at and all appeared well until the seventh when Amagasa caught him flush on the chin as he was retreating from an attack.
The 34-year-old was up quickly but, despite there being less than 30 seconds on the clock when he hit the canvas, he was down again before the seventh-round bell, this time landing flat on his face after a flurry of Amagasa punches.
Rigondeaux (15-0) was soon back in command as the eighth round opened and he dropped Amagasa midway through the 10th, with his lanky opponent suffering bad swelling around the eyes in addition to what looked like a possible broken jaw or cheekbone.
He continued his dominance in the 11th as the swelling worsened and Amagasa (28-5-2) was eventually forced to retire on his stool before the final three minutes.
Rigondeaux was well on top on all three cards when the bout was stopped, leading 107-99, 107-99 and 105-101.
