Inoues vs. Narvaez Bros., Yaegashi-Guevara For 12/30

By Jake Donovan

A family feud and a pursuit of history pave the way for a loaded December 30 show in Tokyo, Japan.

Naoya Inoue is already abandoning the 108 lb. division, moving up two weight classes in pursuit of long reigning super flyweight titlist Omar Narvaez. The bout comes barely two years into the already amazing career of the 21-year old prodigious talent, who earlier this year laid claim to the junior flyweight crown with a one-sided beatdown of Adrian Hernandez in Japan.

After one successful title defense, Inoue has decided to move on. With that, an opportunity exists for Akira Yaegashi to capture a third belt in as many weight classes, as the former flyweight king and strawweight titlist faces Mexico’s Pedro Guevara in a vacant 108 lb. title fight.

The show will air live on Fuji TV in Japan. The card slightly breaks tradition from the previous three years, where simultaneous shows air on New Year’s Eve (unbeaten 130 lb. titlist Takashi Uchiyama will headline a show on New Year’s Eve on another network).

But even in moving up one day, the event still ends the year with a bang.

In preliminary action, the younger brothers of the main event players meet as Takuma Inoue (3-0, 1KO)—who turns 19 just four days prior to the show—faces former flyweight title challenger Nestor Narvaez (20-2-2, 9KOs) in a scheduled eight-round flyweight bout.

Inoue (7-0, 6KOs) was hailed as the next big thing from the moment he turned pro in Oct. ’12, stopping 22-fight veteran Crison Omayao in the 4th round of a scheduled eight-round junior flyweight bout.

By his third pro fight, Inoue was already fighting in 10-round contests before graduating to 12-round affairs by his fifth fight, which came last December—14 months after turning pro. The night also saw younger brother Takuma make his pro debut, with all three of his fights to date coming on Naoya’s undercards.

In his sixth pro fight, Inoue rolled through Hernandez, forcing the two-time 108 lb. titlist into submission inside of six rounds. His lone defense came in September, stopping Samartiek Kokietgym in 11 rounds, on a night that saw Yaegashi’s World flyweight championship reign come an end.

Yaegashi (20-4, 10KOs) had previously served as a strawweight titlist, winning the belt in a 10th round knockout of Pornsawan Porpramook in an Oct. ’11 war that rightfully landed as the 2011 Fight of the Year. His reign ended the same way it began—with non-stop thrills as he was barely edged out by countryman Kazuto Ioka in their June ’12 war, marking the first time ever that two reigning titlists from Japan met in a unification bout.

The fight was Yaegashi’s last at strawweight, jumping up two weight classes, where he eventually captured the World lineal flyweight championship in a 12-round decision over Toshiyuki Igarishi last April. Three successful defenses followed before running into unbeaten Róman Gonzalez, who won his third championship in as many weight classes with a 9th round stoppage in September.

With Inoue vacating his title, Yaegashi now pursues his own shot at championship status in three weight classes. The fight is his first at 108 lb. since 2009, when he beat a then-debuting Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, who went on to win a title at super flyweight before losing his crown this past May.

Guevara (23-1-1, 15KOs) was already angling for a shot at a junior flyweight belt, picking up a “Silver” title with a points win over Raul Garcia last March. The win came following the lone loss of his career, a narrow points loss to John Riel Casimero in Aug. ’12. Guevara has since won five straight, including decisions over former strawweight champs Garcia and Mario Rodriguez.

The vacant title fight with Yaegashi marks his first ever fight outside of Mexico.

Narvaez (43-1-2, 23KOs) suffered the lone loss of his career on the road, coming up well short in an ill-advised challenge of then-bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire in Oct. ’11. The bout was his last road trip heading into the Dec. 30 showdown with Inoue.

Overall, Narvaez is 4-1-1 outside of Argentina. He has otherwise proven bulletproof at home and in the flyweight and super flyweight divisions, with a combined 27 successful title defenses spanning the two weight classes.

The 39-year old southpaw most recently defended his super flyweight belt for the 11th time, scoring majority decision over Felipe Orucuta in their September rematch. The win was more convincing than their first fight, when Narvaez escaped with an unpopular split decision last May.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox