By Jake Donovan

OSAKA, JAPAN – The one time that Guillermo Rigondeaux is out of sight from stateside boxing fans turned out to be one of the most thrilling fights of his career to date.

The supremely talented Cuban southpaw was forced to climb off the canvas to stop rail thin Hisashi Agamasa prior to the start of round 12 of their World super bantamweight title fight Wednesday evening at Bodymaker Collosseum in Osaka, Japan. 

Action was plentiful from the opening bell. No, that it not a misprint, as Rigondeaux was forced to overcome a massive height and reach advantage, which he had under control for the most part.

While the scoring of each round remained in the same direction through the first half, Amagasa had his say every step of the way. That claim especially rang true in the three minutes of war that came in an unforgettable round five that showed the first signs of something special in the air. 

The towering challenger would make one of the year's biggest statements in a round seven that will remain unforgettable to anyone who had the chance to watch.

With the capacity crowd into the fight from the start, the roof nearly came off the joint after Rigondeaux - lauded for his boxing skills, vilified for his preference to box rather than fight - found himself on the canvas and in trouble late in round seven. A well-timed right cross from long range produced the bout's first knockdown, prompting Amagasa to literally dance for joy in the ring.

The fight was far from over, but the lanky challenger could hardly be blamed for the celebration. Rigondeaux made it to to his feet, but was sent down again on what appeared to be a push but ruled a knockdown to close out what could have very well be 2014's Round of the Year.

It was the closest Amagasa came to scoring the mother of all upsets, but dammit if he didn't make it fun trying. Rigondeaux regrouped and - of the realization he had to dig deep in order to keep his undefeated record and World championship reign intact - proceeded to take the fight to his opponent. 

By the championship rounds, Amagasa's face bore the price to pay when forcing Rigondeaux to empty his resources. His left eye and cheekbones swollen and bruised, the end seemed near. Rigondeaux added a knockdown of his own for good measure, flooring the challenger in round ten. 

Following a brutal attack in round 11, concern was expressed in the corner of Amagasa, who was disallowed to come out for the 12th and final round. Along with his dreams dashed, a four-year, 13-fight win streak comes to a crashing halt as he falls to 28-5-2 (19KOs).

All three scorecards had Rigondeaux well ahead (107-99 [twice] and 105-101] at the time of the stoppage.

Rigondeaux remains unbeaten, improving his record to 15-0 (10KOs). The two-time Olympic Gold medalist for his native Cuba racks up the third defense of his World lineal super bantamweight crown which he won in a 12-round decision over Nonito Donaire in April ‘13. 

His entire 2014 ring campaign has been relegated to fighting Asia, after HBO declared that its viewers no longer cared to see him in action. A quick glance of social media feeds will strongly suggest to the contrary, or perhaps it's a matter of demand in the absence of availability. 

At any rate, the 34-year old southpaw remains the man to beat at super bantamweight. As evidenced on Wednesday evening in Japan, he is fully aware of what it takes to keep that claim intact. 

The bout aired live on TBS-Japan.  

Also on the show:

- Kazuto Ioka competed on a show opposite Takashi Uchiyama hundreds of miles apart in Japan for the fourth straight New Year's Eve. The former two-division titlist is now 4-0 on the holiday after stopping Venezuela's Jean Piero Perez in five rounds . A right hand shot was enough to put the visiting challenger down and out. 

- Katsunari Takayama is now a two-time 105 lb. titlist, collecting two vacant belts in a 7th round stoppage win over countryman Go Adaira . The win came on the heels of his Fight of the Year-level split decision loss to Francisco Rodriguez Jr. in their strawweight unification bout in August.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox