It was a little harder than he wanted, but Naoya “Monster” Inoue continues plowing through his opponents.
Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) scored a sixth-round TKO over Mexican former two-division world champion Luis Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) at the Tokyo Dome, the first time this arena had held a boxing event in 34 years.
Nery had success early in this fight, dropping Inoue with a counter left hand in the first round. However, that knockdown woke Inoue up, and he sent Nery to the canvas in Round 2 with a counter left hook. Inoue continued to put pressure on Nery, dropping him again in the fifth. Finally, he closed the show in the sixth as he landed consecutive right hands to end the fight at 1:22.
This marked the 22nd world title victory for Inoue, who recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of winning his first world title.
“I appreciate Nery,” Inoue said after the win. “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.”
Despite the knockdown, the 31-year-old Inoue was still dominant, which is what we have come to expect; the legend continues.
In other action:
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.
Photo: Naoki Fukuda
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