Nobuto Ikehara and Koji Tanaka both scored the bout 115-113 in his favor, canceling out Saemi Okaniwa's 114-114 card during a fight that could've gone either way.

"I am the happiest man in the world," Moloney said in his post-fight interview.

"That was one tough fight but the sacrifices were worth it. I have given everything in this sport for 20 years, there was no way I could leave this ring without winning this world title. I hope this is the first of many fights of mine in Japan," he added with more lucrative bouts in mind after rejecting a step-aside fee to allow Bam Rodriguez the chance to become undisputed 115-pound champion earlier in the year. It wasn't pretty, but his persistence paid off.

Garcia (23-7-2, 13 KOs) pressed the action from minute one, swinging downstairs and looking to unsettle the Australian. Moloney (29-4, 18 KOs) relished the task of boxing off the back foot, much to the audible delight of his corner, who felt he won the first two rounds with patience and better technique to his work.

That was helped by rocking the champion with a jab in the final seconds of an encouraging first round, though it wouldn't be an easy task to sustain.

An accidental head clash caused a cut over Moloney's left eye and while not fight-ending, the visual was enough to shift initiative towards a champion aware that optics were everything.

He landed the better punches in round three and continued whipping wildly while referee Katsuhiko Nakamura constantly had to separate them as they jostled for position at short-range.

The fourth was scrappy and culminated with both landing hooks to finish the frame strong, though Garcia won the fifth through volume as they conceivably traded rounds in a tense tussle. Whenever Moloney would connect on a good combination, the champion would return the favor and beckon him forward as if to say, is that all you've got?

Moloney couldn't miss with his body punching, though was warned for straying low in the final seconds of the seventh as Garcia kept throwing but was losing shape and advances were increasingly predictable.

Round eight was another scrappy exchange, though the champion crunched a good short left hook with a minute left before Moloney finished the stanza unloading against the ropes.

"You've got to stay calm and mature if you want to beat a champion," were the words from Team Moloney in the corner, no doubt aware this was close through 21 minutes and they were heading towards a crescendo.

Both were feeling the pace by this stage, Garcia the busier and winning the next two rounds on output as Moloney's movement slowed. The 11th was more of the same, Moloney bloodied and Garcia relentlessly flicking hooks and looping shots in his airspace to make the 35-year-old think twice about countering.

Elsewhere before the first of two championship fights, Michael Angeletti (15-0, 8 KOs) showed class behind his jab to comfortably win a battle of unbeaten bantamweight contenders with a 12-round decision (115-112, 115-112, 116-111) over Kenneth Llover (17-1, 12 KOs) in their IBF final eliminator for Jose Reyes' crown.

The 29-year-old had to recover from a second-round knockdown to do so, steadying himself and counterpunching excellently as Llover faded down the stretch despite a spirited finish.

Japanese bantamweight Aoi Yokoyama won an eight-round decision over longtime contender Vince Paras, while there were also victories for junior bantam Shuri Oka (8-1, 6 KOs) and junior featherweight Nurzhigit Dyushebaev (1-2-1, 1 KO).