Anthony Mundine recovered from being knocked down by supposed no-hoper Yoshinori Nishizawa to retain his World Boxing Association super middleweight title with a fifth round stoppage on a star-studded night at Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

Making the first defence of the title he won last October, Mundine was put on the canvas by a short right hand just before the end of the second round.

The 28-year-old Australian quickly bounced back to his feet after being knocked down for the first time since his knock-out to Sven Ottke.

In an exciting bout, Mundine lived up to his promise to win inside six rounds.

He put the Japanese down in the fourth round with a short right, 40 seconds from the end of the round.

Mundine resumed his attack from the opening seconds of the fifth, opening up a cut over Nishizawa's left eye and sending him to the floor again with another flurry of vicious blows.

English referee John Coyle stopped the bout at the 43 second mark.

Mundine improved his record to 20 wins (15kos and one loss) while 38-year-old Nishizawa's log dropped to 24 victories (12kos 14 losses and five draws).

The bout was watched by a smattering of celebrities including Oscar-winning movie stars Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, singers Jon Stevens and Jimmy Barnes and a host of rugby league identities.

The three judges from Australia, France and the United States all had Mundine 38-36 ahead at the time of the stoppage.

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