Yabuki, The Ring's No. 2-rated flyweight, prevailed by wearing down the Nicaraguan challenger and stopped him in the 12th round.

"As expected, he was a tough, aggressive and courageous fighter," Yabuki (19-4, 18 KOs) told The Ring through a translator. "I landed some good punches in the first half, but he didn't flinch and kept coming forward, so it was a really tough, difficult fight.

"I knew I had accumulated damage, and the knockdown in the 11th round, so had a feeling I could finish him."

Despite the volatile nature of their fight, both men remained cordial and took a photo together shared on social media before bonding over their prior battle.

"I thanked him for coming to Japan," he recalled. "It must be a huge handicap, as he had to fight totally away [from home.] We fought for our families and children. He was a great fighter from start to the end."

Afterwards the 33-year-old late-bloomer was forced to enjoy a rather low-key celebration.

"None of the restaurants were open that night, so I ate some instant ramen," he said before explaining how he made up for it later.

"The next day I ate some delicious food and spent my time as normal."

It was the perfect bookend to a strong year for the always value-for-money fighter.

Yabuki, who sometimes works the corners of some of his stablemates, began the year as IBF 108-pound titlist but jumped to flyweight and claimed world title in a second weight class scoring a late knockout over previously-unbeaten Angel Ayala in March.

"To make the junior flyweight division was hard for me, so I think flyweight is my best weight," he explained. "Rather [than] challenge [myself to make junior flyweight], I think I was able to fight well at a weight that suited me, to fight against strong fighters like Ayala and Alvarado, so I'm very satisfied."

With the mandatory situation cleared up, Yabuki, with the help of his manager Manabu Murakami, is clear about what he wants next.

"[WBA/WBC champion Ricardo] Sandoval is currently ranked highest in the flyweight division, having beaten Kenshiro [Teraji] and is ranked No. 1 in Ring Magazine, so I would like to fight him for a unification fight," he said. "I want the Ring Magazine belt."

"However, if that does not happen, I would also like to challenge myself at junior bantamweight, so would like to do whichever one has the higher chance [of happening.]"