It had been more than 34 years since the Tokyo Dome hosted a boxing event. Naoya “Monster” Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), boxing’s pound-for-pound king, made it worth the wait. Inoue scored a sixth-round TKO over Mexican former two-division world champion Luis Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) in front a packed house Monday evening to defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship.
This marked the 22nd world title victory for Inoue, who recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of winning his first world title.
“Inoue is among the greatest fighters I’ve promoted, and he was sensational once again. Nery came to win, but ‘The Monster’ was too much,” said Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum.
Inoue was floored early by a counter left hand in the opening stanza as he closed in on Nery. The 31-year-old returned the favor in the following round by sending Nery to the canvas with a counter left hook. Inoue then began breaking Nery down during the ensuing rounds before dropping him again with a left hook in the fifth. In the sixth, the pound-four-pound great landed consecutive right hands to end the fight at 1:22.
Inoue said, “I appreciate Nery. That’s why I shook hands with him after the fight. The knockdown motivated me. I am thankful to have fought against a great fighter in Nery.
“I don’t remember anything my dad {head trainer Shingo Inoue} told me in the intermission, but that happening gave me motivation. I was so focused until the end of the fight.
“Thank you so much to everyone for witnessing my fight. There are over 40,000 people here in the Tokyo Dome. I promise that I will keep giving you fights that get you excited.”
Takei Dethrones Moloney
Japanese former kickboxing world champion Yoshiki Takei earned boxing hardware in just his ninth pro fight, using his length and tricky southpaw style to topple WBO Bantamweight World Champion Jason Moloney (27-3. 19 KOs) via unanimous decision.
Takei (9-0, 8 KOs) prevailed by scores of 116-111 2x and 117-110. Moloney had Takei badly hurt and out on his feet in the final round, but the Japanese upstart survived the late charge to notch the well-earned decision.
Bantamweight: Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs) UD 12 Sho Ishida (34-4, 17 KOs). Scores: 118-109 2x and 116-111. Inoue, Naoya’s younger brother, made the first successful defense of his WBA Bantamweight World Title.
Flyweight: Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11 KOs) UD 12 Taku Kuwahara (13-2, 8 KOs). Scores: 118-110 and 117-111 2x. Akui retains the WBA Flyweight World Title.
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