Filipino boxer Vincent Astrolabio of General Santos City moved closer to a world title opportunity after an impressive knockout of Russia's Nikolai Potapov at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas this weekend.

Astrolabio secured a dominant sixth-round knockout of the Russian in a match that served as the title eliminator for the IBF bantamweight championship.

Potapov came into the Showtime-televised bout as the third-ranked contender, but was out-classed by the Filipino who registered three knockdowns in the match.

The fight was called to an end when Astrolabio landed a right hand that sent Potapov to the mat. The Russian was counted out 1:26 into the sixth round.

His victory makes Astrolabio the top contender to the IBF bantamweight title that is held by Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue, the undisputed champion of the division.

The fight was the first on American soil for the 25-year-old Astrolabio, who improved to 18-3 in his professional career with 13 knockouts. Potapov fell to 23-3-1 (11 KOs).

"I want to fight for the belts. I'm so thankful that I had this and that I was able to give everyone a knockout. This is the biggest moment of my career and I'm going to keep pushing to fight the best," Astrolabio was quoted as saying after his victory.