Paul Butler was giddy with anticipation watching Naoya Inoue terrorize yet another opponent. Inoue, the Japanese dynamo, made mincemeat of future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire on Tuesday, stopping the Filipino veteran in two rounds of their 12-round, 118-pound title unification bout at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Naoya Inoue ensured that boxing judges couldn’t rob him when he stopped Nonito Donaire during the second round of their rematch Tuesday night in Saitama, Japan.
Already the true lineal champion at bantamweight, Naoya Inoue wouldn’t mind sticking around to collect the division’s final chip. The unbeaten three-division champ added to his pound-for-pound accolades with a second-round knockout of Nonito Donaire in their rematch Tuesday evening local time at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Inoue now holds the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, having won the WBA and WBC belts from Donaire (42-7, 28KOs) in separate bouts.
Andre Ward wasn’t quite ready to elevate Naoya Inoue to the top spot on his pound-for-pound list Tuesday. As much as the ESPN analyst tried to avoid overreacting to Inoue’s annihilation of Nonito Donaire, Ward wouldn’t flippantly attribute the Japanese superstar’s success to Donaire’s age, either. Donaire is 39, but Ward considers the 29-year-old Inoue’s impressive performance during his second-round, technical-knockout win more reflective of Inoue’s greatness.
Nonito Donaire was never in this predicament before at any point in his illustrious career spanning three decades. Not even in his twelve previous rounds with Naoya Inoue did the former four-division champion experience a moment where he was separated from his senses in the ring. It happened near the end of the first round of their bantamweight title unification rematch, when Inoue landed a flush right hand to Donaire’s temple to floor the future Hall of Famer for the first of two times en route to a second-round knockout loss Tuesday in Saitama, Japan.
Inoue, Donaire Rematch Photos Gallery - Naoya “Monster” Inoue lived up to his nickname when he demolished Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in two rounds at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. (photos by Naoki Fukuda)
By Keith Idec - “The Monster” overwhelmed Nonito Donaire in their rematch Tuesday night. Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue dropped Donaire once apiece in the first and second rounds and stopped the 39-year-old Donaire quickly in their highly anticipated bantamweight championship rematch.
By Cliff Rold - Can they do it again? While the result was little in doubt when the final bell sounded in 2019, what happened over the course of twelve rounds left an impression. Naoya Inoue may have won as many as nine rounds against Nonito Donaire to unify a pair of titles and win the World Boxing Super Series. Those nine didn’t come easy. Inoue battled through a broken nose and orbital bone, scoring a knockdown late and proving his grit and chin were as potent as the offense that had dazzled since nearly his debut.
Naoya Inoue believes he can be next to wear the pound-for-pound crown left up for grabs in the wake of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s recent defeat.
Michael Griffin is entrusted with maintaining order in yet another high-profile assignment. The veteran ring official has been tabbed as the referee for the WBA/WBC/IBF bantamweight title unification rematch between Yokohama’s Naoya Inoue and Las-Vegas based Fil-Am star Nonito Donaire. The fight takes place Tuesday evening local time at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the same site that held their epic first fight which saw Inoue prevail via unanimous decision in November 2019.