Jin Sasaki rose from the canvas to deliver his best win to date and in emphatic style. 

A brief lapse by the 21-year-old welterweight late in round two saw Sasaki respond with a pair of knockdowns, the latter of which put former title challenger Keita Obara down and out. A right hand by Sasaki left Obara flat on his back to produce an instant stoppage at 1:13 of round three in their regional title fight Saturday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. 

Sasaki was the aggressor throughout the brief affair. However, he literally let his guard down just long enough to suffer a brief taste of adversity. A right hand by Obara sent Sasaki off balance and eventually to the canvas midway through round two. 

The threat of an upset didn't extend beyond the round or even very far beyond that moment. Obara tried to capture lightning in a bottle but the 36-year-old only left himself open for Sasaki's sharper, cleaner punches. 

Sasaki permanently turned the tide with a right hand body shot to send Obara to the canvas early in round three. Obara beat the count but was never given a chance to recover when a booming right hand by Sasaki put him flat on his back. No count was necessary as referee Biney Martin immediately brought a halt to the contest. 

Sasaki improved to 15-1-1 (14KOs) and extended his current five-fight unbeaten streak. His past three wins have ended inside of three rounds. 

Obara snapped a six-fight win streak as he fell to 26-5-1 (23KOs). His lone career title shot resulted in a second-round knockout defeat to then-unbeaten IBF junior welterweight titlist Eduard Troyanovsky in September 2016.

The bout aired live on ESPN+ as part of a five-fight telecast. Headlining the show, lineal/WBA/WBC junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji (20-1, 12KOs) defends his crown versus late replacement Anthony Olascuaga (5-0, 3KOs). 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox