Britain's Lee Haskins claimed the IBF interim bantamweight world title after stopping Ryosuke Iwasa in the sixth round in front of a home crowd at the Whitchurch Arena in Bristol.
A packed audience watched as Haskins, 32, dominated from the start before flooring his opponent in the sixth moments before the fight was stopped by referee Phil Edwards.
Iwasa, 25, was fighting outside Japan for the first time and never looked comfortable when dealing with Haskins' lively punching.
The victory takes Haskins' professional record to 32 wins from 35 fights and lines up a potential fight against IBF champion Randy Caballero. He could also target a rematch with WBA bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell - the man he beat in 2008.
Haskins said: "I've had 35 professional fights and that was the best performance."
The interim title match was called after Caballero suffered an ankle injury that put him out of action for four to six months, but he is expected to open negotiations with Haskins in an attempt to retain his IBF title.
Ahead of his fight with Iwasa, Haskins told ESPN: "If Caballero recovers from his injury I would love to fight him but I'm hearing it's quite bad so if he hasn't recovered the winner of this fight will be made world champion."