Takuma Inoue impressively showcased his skills before his older brother took center stage Tuesday in Saitama, Japan.

The junior featherweight contender out-classed Japanese veteran Gakuya Furuhashi throughout their 12-round, 122-pound bout at Saitama Super Arena. The 26-year-old Inoue won by unanimous decision and recorded a shutout on two scorecards.

Judges Yuji Fukuchi (119-109), Michiaki Someya (120-108) and Kazutoshi Yoshida (120-108) all scored their fight for Inoue by huge margins. ESPN+ streamed the younger Inoue’s win before Naoya Inoue encountered Nonito Donaire in their highly anticipated rematch, a bantamweight title unification fight.

Takuma Inoue (16-1, 3 KOs) doesn’t possess the power that has made his older brother such a destructive force in the sport. His diverse offensive skills make him effective, though, and enabled him to win easily against an aggressive veteran who tried to win until the final bell sounded.

Inoue won a third straight fight since then-undefeated Frenchman Nordine Oubaali defeated him by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight for Oubaali’s WBC bantamweight title on the Naoya Inoue-Donaire undercard in November 2019 at Saitama Super Arena.

Furuhashi, 34, lost for the ninth time as a pro, but he has lost only once by knockout. Kawasaki’s Furuhashi (28-9-2, 16 KOs) displayed durability and toughness throughout their bout, but he had difficulty dealing with Inoue’s hand speed, combination punching and movement.

It was obvious once Inoue and Furuhashi reached the 12th and final round that they would go the distance, unless Furuhashi caught Inoue with a shot that scored him the knockout he needed to pull off an upset.

Inoue landed a right uppercut and then an overhand right barely a minute into the 12th round. Furuhashi never stopped trying, but Inoue had clearly out-boxed him.

Inoue’s left hook to the body landed flush 50 seconds into the 11th round. Inoue later blasted Furuhashi with a right hand that turned his head 1:10 into the 11th round.

Furuhashi’s flush right hand made Inoue hold him with about 1:35 to go in the 10th round. Furuhashi went after Inoue’s body later in the 10th round and neutralized Inoue’s offense temporarily.

Inoue nailed Furuhashi with a right hand about 35 seconds into the ninth round. Furuhashi’s right hand to the body seemed to affect Inoue just after the halfway point of the ninth round.

A left uppercut by Inoue stunned Furuhashi with just over two minutes to go in the eighth round. A left-right combination by Inoue connected with just under 1:20 to go in the eighth round.

Furuhashi drilled Inoue with a straight right hand with approximately 15 seconds remaining in the eighth round.

There was a break in the action to allow Inoue to recover from a low blow with 1:43 remaining in the seventh round. While backed against the ropes, Inoue blasted Furuhashi with a left uppercut about a minute later.

Inoue snapped back Furuhashi’s head with a right uppercut that landed with 50 seconds on the clock in the sixth round.

Furuhashi’s hard left to the body landed with just over two minute to go in the fifth round. Inoue again landed back-to-back right uppercuts just after the midway mark of the fifth round.

Another right uppercut by Inoue shook Furuhashi with 15 seconds to go in the fifth round.

A sweeping left hook by Inoue landed with just inside two minutes on the clock in the fourth round. A right-left-left combination by Inoue made Furuhashi reset his feet with approximately 20 seconds to go in the fourth round.

Inoue’s jab was effective early in the third round, but Furuhashi drilled Inoue with a right hand when he was backed against the ropes barely a minute into that round. Inoue landed back-to-back right uppercuts with just over a minute remaining in the third round.

About 10 seconds later, Inoue unloaded a four-punch combination that stopped Furuhashi from coming forward.

Inoue landed three straight right uppercuts with just over 20 seconds to go in the second round. Inoue boxed well throughout the second round, when Furuhashi continually pursued him.

A right uppercut by Furuhashi connected with just under 50 seconds to go in the first round. Furuhashi backed Inoue into the ropes just before the halfway point of the first round, but Inoue spun away and countered with a combination.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.