Inoue destroys Donaire in 2nd round of rematch to unify bantamweight titles
The 'Monster' scores two heavy knockdowns in easy victory
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They don’t call Naoya Inoue the “Monster” for nothing.
In perhaps his finest performance of a Hall of Fame career in progress, Inoue destroyed Nonito Donaire, a future Hall of Famer in his own right, knocking him down twice in a second-round knockout victory to unify three bantamweight world titles on Tuesday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, about a half hour outside of Tokyo.
Inoue retained the IBF and WBA belts, took Donaire’s WBC title to leave him one belt shy of being the undisputed champion and reminded everyone why he has been regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world for the past several years.
During the lead up the fight Inoue said his goal was to score a knockout and be more impressive than he was in a hard-fought decision over Donaire to unify two titles in the 2019 consensus fight of the year, which also took place in Saitama.
Inoue dropped Donaire in the first fight but also got roughed up and suffered a broken orbit bone and nose injury in what the toughest test of his career.
The 39-year-old Donaire had gone on to win another title after the loss in the first fight against Inoue and had been fighting at a top level late in his career, but in their rematch, Inoue blasted him out with ease.
Inoue took control immediately and scored the first knockdown with a right-hand counter shot to the temple that sent Donaire to his rear end in the final seconds of the first round. Donaire, who was 38 when he broke his own record as the oldest fighter to win a bantamweight world title, appeared dazed when he got to his feet and lucky there was no more time remaining in the round.
Three-division champion Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs), 29, of Japan, went on the attack in the second round and rocked Donaire with a left hook. Donaire’s knees dipped and he nearly went down. Inoue ran right to him and landed a series of shots, finally sending Donaire to the canvas again with a right-left combination.
Donaire (42-7, 28 KOs), a Philippines native fighting out of Las Vegas, rolled over to all fours, but referee Michael Griffin was already waving the fight over at 1 minute, 24 seconds as Inoue stormed to the other side of the ring and climbed the ring post in celebration.
Donaire had been stopped once before in his career, but that was in the sixth round of a featherweight title fight — two divisions north of bantamweight — by much bigger Nicholas Walters in 2014 in a fight that Donaire, a four-division champion, was leading on all three scorecards.
Nobody had ever beaten Donaire as ruthlessly as Inoue did.
“The very first round, I received the left hook from Nonito and that punch made me wake up and I stayed focused for the fight,” Inoue said though an interpreter during a post-fight interview in the ring. “To be able to reach my status up at the top, I needed to win this fight. So, I just decided to finish this fight at this moment.”
Inoue has designs on becoming the undisputed champion, which means defeating WBO titlist Paul Butler (34-2, 15 KOs), 33, of England, and then moving up to pursue a junior featherweight title. There has never been an undisputed bantamweight champion in the three- or four-belt era.
“My aim is to be the undisputed champion,” Inoue said. “If I can do that within the year of 2022, I would love to stay in this division. But if I can’t, I am capable of (moving up to 122 pounds) and fighting for a belt.”
Making the undisputed fight probably would not be complicated if Butler is interested. He is promoted by Probellum, which also promotes Donaire, and was able to make the deal for him to face Inoue in their rematch.
Photo: Getty Images
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Inoue is great but we shouldn't forget that Donaire is ancient especially by the usual standards of the lighter weight divisions. This would have been a fantasy fight if we had a 10 years younger Donaire.
Another awesome display from Inoue. Where does this place him in the P4P list? At the top for me. Leaving his unquestionable ring IQ, boxing ability and toughness aside for a moment, is there anyone who's as destructive?