Naoya “Monster” Inoue had to get off the deck to retain his undisputed super bantamweight championship with a sixth-round knockout over challenger Luis Nery at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Both fighters were down on the canvas, but in the end, Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) proved to be too good for the 29-year-old former world champion Nery (35-2, 27 KOs).
A Shocking Start
In what was supposed to be a slam dunk win for the 31-year-old ‘Monster’ Inoue almost turned into a disaster in round one, with the southpaw Nery catching him with a short left hand that knocked him down.
Inoue stayed down for a long time, a slight trace of blood from his nose, and trying to regain his senses. The knockdown was the first of Inoue’s 11-year professional career, but it wasn’t surprising because he got careless in close, dropping his hands against the big puncher and wide open for the left hand that sent him down.
Nery attempted to finish off the still hurt-looking Inoue with straight lefts to the head, but none of them landed cleanly, enabling the champion to escape the round just barely.
Inoue’s Relentless Response
In round two, ‘Monster’ Inoue was out to get revenge. He caught Nery coming in with a perfect right hand to send him down. It wasn’t great power from Inoue, but rather perfect timing, catching Nery being careless as he was coming in.
From that point forward, Inoue had his way with Nery, hitting him with many shots in the following round but occasionally taking some big shots in response.
By the fifth, Nery was ready to go, as Inoue hit him at will. Inoue dropped Nery for the second time in the fifth after hitting him with several hard shots.
A Spectacular Finish
In the sixth, Inoue backed Nery up against the ropes and hit him with two hard right hands, sending him down to the canvas. At 1:22 of the round, referee Michael Griffin halted the fight.
The victory showed that Inoue was the best at super bantamweight, but we knew that ahead of time. This fight was more about revenge, as Nery had knocked out Japanese legend Shinsuke Yamanaka twice six years earlier in 2018.
Tonight, Inoue was able to avenge his loss, albeit after Brandon Figueroa had already knocked Nery out in 2021.
Now, the question is will Inoue dare go go up to featherweight to mix it with the teaming sharks in the division or will he continue to play it safe in the small pond, feeding off of the guppies and not risking his hide?
