On The Watch “It’s All About Naoya Inoue vs Junto Nakatani”

Undisputed Junior Featherweight Showdown

Undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Featherweight Champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue (33-0, 27 Kos) continued his dominant performance in the Junior Featherweight Division when he took on another heavy fisted challenger coming up in weight in undefeated former IBF/WBC Bantamweight Champion Junto “Big Bang” Nakatani (32-1, 24 Kos) this morning at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan before 55,000 fans in attendance.

In the first few rounds, Nakatani uncharacteristically fought with extreme caution by not letting his lethal hands go unlike Inoue who pressed the action by being the aggressor and letting his hands go, keeping the rounds interesting. That being said, Nakatani eventually started to let his hands go in stretches but still with much caution to match up with Inoue who kept a steady pace with accurate punch output.

As expected, both combatants were strategic in their approach but to me it was Inoue who looked more like the risk taker inside that squared circle. The action picked up as the rounds progressed when both warriors looked to do some damage to one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. As much as Inoue’s speed was a problem so was Nakatani’s jab whenever it landed but the real difference, was Inoue’s power punches which were visibly more effective then Nakatani’s.

Nevertheless, this was a highly executed bout where both combatants had their moments which made it that much more interesting. After 12 full rounds of action the Judges at hand scored it 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 unanimously for Naoya Inoue.

This was a challenging bout for Inoue where he had to adjust on the fly as his opponent was quite skilled and evasive in his own way. Inoue still found a way to prevail and retain his Undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Featherweight Championship crown.

Well done, Naoya. Who’s next?

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Naoya Inoue vs Luis Nery”

Undisputed Junior Featherweight Showdown

Undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Featherweight Champion Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 Kos) once again continued his dominant performance this morning but did take a stray bullet in the form of a knockdown when he took on heavy fisted challenger Luis Nery (35-2, 27 Kos) at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

Both combatants came out the gate looking for their respect and aiming to land something big to set the tone and to everyone’s surprise, the first one to land that detonator was Nery with a mean left hook that chin checked Inoue and dropped him for a quick standing 8 count that had the crowd in attendance shocked and breathless for about 5 until Inoue bounced back up and survived the round.

Now that being said, Nery did not capitalize on his one opportunity to take out the Champ and on missing that short window, “the Monster” was released from that point on. In the second round, Inoue reasserted himself and pressed the action to getting his “get back” and dropping Nery with a powerful counter left hand that evened the score with a standing 8 count of his own.

With the playing field now even, Inoue showed us why he is levels above his competition inside that squared circle as he proceeded to raise his punch output and accuracy in a tactical fashion boxing and avoiding Nery’s bullish attempts.

By round five Nery was getting desperate and reckless and paid dearly for it by getting dropped by a left hook for another standing 8 count with 35 seconds left in the round. By round six the inevitable was around the corner and Inoue wasted no time and turned into the “Monster” that he is and unloaded a barrage of unanswered punches that eventually dropped Nery to the point where the referee waived the bout off, proving once again just how powerful Inoue is inside that squared circle.

Another convincing win by the Undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Champion Naoya “The Monster” Inoue. I can’t see anybody beating this Dude at this Junior Featherweight Division.

Well done, Champ.

Blaze