By Jake Donovan
The Monster is back.
Naoya 'The Monster' Inoue enjoyed a successful return to the ring following a 52-week break, but needed less than two rounds to dispose of Warlito Parrenas in their Fuji TV headliner Tuesday evening in Tokyo, Japan.
Two knockdowns produced the quick finish for Inoue at 1:20 of round two.
It wasn't the cap to the Fighter of the Year campaign that he enjoyed in closing out 2014, but Inoue will gladly take any fight in the ring over the lengthy inactive period he was forced to endure. Out for most of 2015 to rest and rehabilitate following hand surgery, the unbeaten 22-year old was methodical yet merciless in his destruction of Parrenas, a streaking contender from Philippines who was in way over his head.
Action was slow out the gate in round one, understandable considering Inoue was shaking off a year's worth of ring rust. Parrenas tried to capitalize on the situation, but could fare no better than to remain on his feet for all three minutes of the opening round.
That didn't last for long.
Inoue was quick to the strike, dropping Parrenas less than a minute into round two. The visiting challenger barely beat the mandatory eight count, but his eyes were glazed and seemed frozen in rising to his feet.
A volley of punches soon followed, with Parrenas back on the deck moments later courtesy of a straight right, left hook combination. This time, referee Michael Ortega - doing his best to give the 32-year old contender every chance to fight back - jumped in to immediately halt the contest.
Parrenas suffers his first loss in 3 1/2 years, falling to 24-7-1 (21KOs), ending an eight-fight unbeaten streak. The 32-year old from Manila was granted the title shot in lieu of a rematch with David Carmona, with whom he fought to a 12-round draw in their interim title fight this past July.
The bout was designed to set up a mandatory challenger for Inoue upon his ring return. Carmona decided to head in a different direction, agreeing to allow Parrenas first crack at the rising superstar from Japan, with his own title shot to come at some point in 2016.
Should current form hold true, it may prove to only serve as a footnote in the year to come for Inoue, who seeks bigger game than the appetizer he was fed upon his ring return.
"I want to face stronger opposition,"Inoue (9-0, 8KOs) told Fuji TV following his fifth straight knockout, which came exactly 364 days after sewing up Fighter of the Year honors with a two-round destruction of long-reigning super flyweight champ Omar Narvaez. "I am interested in a (title) unification fight."
Such a claim means that Carlos Cuadras, McJoe Arroyo and countryman Kohei Kono are officially on the clock. It remains to be seen whether any of the three are given the necessary incentive to accept the challenge or if they simply wait for Inoue - who turns just 23 in March - to outgrow the division.
There is plenty of room on his 5'4" frame to eventually move up to bantamweight. Plenty of big fights await at the weight class, but boxing fans can breathe easy in knowing the plan is to remain at super flyweight for the near future.
It's the right move, especially considering the budding interest coming from HBO, Currently on the roster of the American cable giant is unbeaten World flyweight king Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez, who is now widely recognized as the best active boxer in the world in the wake of Floyd Mayweather's retirement in September.
Inoue and Gonzalez have both expressed interest in a future showdown, one that could very well determine pound-for-pound supremacy by the time it materializes.
UNDERCARD
Akira Yaegashi (23-5, 12KOs) turned in late entries for the year's biggest upset and best comeback after storming to a 12-round decision over Javier Mendoza (24-3-1, 19KOs). With the win, Yaegashi becomes a three-division champ, joining Koki Kameda and old rival Kazuto Ioka as the only fighters from Japan to accomplish the feat.
A full-recap of the televised co-feature can be found HERE.
Off-TV, Takuma Inoue continues to follow older brother Naoya's blueprint in a rapid ascension from newcomer to prospect to contender. Just three days after turning 20, the younger Inoue stormed to a 12-round unanimous decision over Philippines' Rene Dacquel. Scores were 118-109 (twice) and 117-110. Takuma and Naoya both presently compete in the super flyweight division.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
