Naoya inoue He is the emperor of Japanese boxing. He undisputed world super bantamweight champion successfully defended his titles for the seventh time, this time against his compatriot Together Nakatani. took away, by unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 116-112), the fight of all fights in the Empire of the Rising Sun
The Tokyo Dome and 55,000 spectators attended the fight of the century. Two multiple champions face to face. Number 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings vs. 6. The overall super bantamweight champion versus the champion in three divisions. Both undefeated. Both with 32-0 in their favor. The ‘Monster’ Inoe extended his streak of 28 consecutive victories in world championship fights with one more.
The biggest fight in Japanese boxing history did not disappoint the thousands of spectators who followed the combat in the Tokyo Dome (where Mike Tyson lost his undefeated status in 1990) or in the many Japanese cinemas who sold out their tickets as soon as they announced the fight would be broadcast on the big screen. They saw Nakatani appear, dressed in a gold robe with white trim and to the rhythm of one of the songs by the Japanese rock star Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi. Inoue got into the ring after a long five-minute walk while ‘Battle Without Honor or Humanity’, the song of Kill Bill Vol. 1… And then the bell rang.
The first two rounds were a contact. Nakatani, somewhat conservative, tried three left crosses but they failed to impact Inoue. The Monster moved easily around the ring to take the initiative. In the third round he landed a couple of right hands to the face of a Nakatani. And in the fourth, another left hit his rival’s face before chaining a jab to the head, then to the body and then a right. Nakatani responded with a left hook, but Inoue ruled the boards.
‘Big Bang’ Nakatani pressed. He signed a great fifth round, the most even of the entire fight. The pace of the fight increased. The exchange of blows came. Inoue began to release more hands to stop his rival’s push. A flurry of jabs and a right hook touched flesh. And then, cwith good footwork, He dodged several attacks from a Nakatani who was not intimidated. The audience cheered from their seats. The candidate did not shrink his arm. A very aggressive ninth round was marked. Both boxers demonstrated the reason for their undefeated status.
This is how the last three rounds were reached. Nakatani dominated the tenth until An involuntary headbutt between the two broke his eyebrow. The stoppage gave Inoue air in his worst moment of the fight.
Nakatani came out in the eleventh round and immediately took the center of the ring. Inoue He defended himself at the beginning and waited for his moment. This assault arrived late. He chained together two brilliant combinations of blows that hurt his opponent. An uppercut, another couple of right hands and a new uppercut. Nakatani was bleeding before the final three minutes of the fight.
Inoueaware that the winner of the fight was in his corner, controlled this last round. He wanted the time to pass without any further surprises. And so it happened. The fight ended. And the judges declared him the winner. Nakatani opened his losing record (32-1, 24 KOs). He Monster Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) remains unstoppable. He is the lord and master of Japanese boxing.
