Naoya Inoue starred once again in front of his adoring fans, but had to come off the canvas as he defended his undisputed super bantamweight title with a sixth round knockout of Luis Nery at the Tokyo Dome on Monday.
Inoue survived a first shock first round knockdown, however he recovered to drop Nery three further times, the final knockdown finally finishing off the Mexican.
A king of the lower weights, Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) then cleaned out the bantamweight division, becoming undisputed champion at the back end of 2022, adding the WBO belt with a stoppage win over Paul Butler.
He quickly completed the set at super bantamweight too, taking WBC and WBO straps in a masterful eighth round stoppage of Stephen Fulton, and then added the WBA ‘super’ and IBF crowns by halting Marlon Tapales in ten in his last outing last December.
Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) was a former two-weight world champion, and was on a run of four straight wins since a sole loss to Brandon Figueroa in 2021.
DOWN GOES INOUE.
DOWN GOES INOUE.
DOWN GOES INOUE.
DOWN GOES INOUE. pic.twitter.com/af6jkMG417
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 6, 2024
The 29-year-old stunned Inoue and the packed crowd, as he dropped the champion hard in the opening round with a huge left hand, but the visitor was unable to finish the job after the ‘Monster’ beat the count.
The home favourite returned the favour in round two, knocking down the Mexican with a short left hook, but it was more a flash knockdown, and he comfortably survived the count and the round.
Inoue was beginning to establish his authority, and had a solid third round, and was getting the better of the action as Nery’s work began to become ragged.
The home fighter asserted himself further in the fifth, two heavy left hands flooring the challenger again.
The writing was on the wall, and the end came in the very next round, where Inoue uncorked a big right hand that sent Nery nearly through the ropes, and the fight was waved off.
NAOYA INOUE AT 31 🇯🇵
WBC light fly title 👑
WBO super fly title 👑
WBA bantam title 👑
IBF bantam title 👑
WBC bantam title 👑
WBO bantam title 👑
WBC super bantam title 👑
WBO super bantam title 👑
WBA super bantam title 👑
IBF super bantam title 👑#Boxing #InoueNery pic.twitter.com/YcsxGECM7T— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) May 6, 2024
Inoue could face unbeaten Australian Sam Goodman, who is the number one contender with both the IBF and WBO.
“I’ve been mandatory for over a year,” Goodman said in the ring post-fight.
“Either give up the belts or fight me. Let’s get it on.”
Takei takes WBO title from Moloney
In the chief support, Yoshiki Takei was taken the distance for the first time as a professional and won the WBO bantamweight title on the scorecards against Jason Moloney.
Moloney (27-3, 19 KOs) had little answer to the heavy-handed Takei (9-0, 8 KOs) early on, but the champion inched into the contest, and the home favourite understandably faded late on.
The 27-year-old southpaw still had enough to see the final bell, where he won by two scores of 116-111, and a third at 117-110.
UPSET FROM THE TOKYO DOME 🤯 pic.twitter.com/c0eIi4fAlE
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 6, 2024
Inoue climbs off canvas to retain title
There was further Inoue success on the card, as Takuma Inoue kept the WBA bantamweight title, getting off the deck to record a wide points win over Sho Ishida.
A swift shot on the counter had Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs) on the floor in the opening round, but Ishida (34-4, 17 KOs) failed to take advantage of the early success, and Inoue largely dominated to get the win by two scores of 118-109, and a third at 116-111.
DOWN GOES TAKUMA INOUE 😮 pic.twitter.com/Y3jIyJPHOu
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 6, 2024
Remaining Undercard
Seigo Yuri Akui retained his WBA flyweight title, as he took a clear points win against Taku Kuwahara (13-2, 8 KOs) in a breathless encounter.
Akui (20-2-1, 11 KOs) kept his belt by two scores of 117-111, and a third at 118-110.
TJ Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs) continued the Indian Summer to his career, as the former world champion upset Bryl Bayogos (7-1-1, 2 KOs), taking a fourth round stoppage win in their super bantamweight meeting for his third straight win in Japan.
