By Ian S Palmer
The WBC Bantam Championship is on the line at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan this Thursday, November 7th as unbeaten Nordine Oubaali of France takes on undefeated Takuma Inoue of Japan. The 12-round bout can be seen live on DAZN in North America while British fans can catch it on Sky Sports and those in Japan can see it on Fuji TV. Oubaali won the vacant title in January when he beat Rau’shee Warren by unanimous decision then defended it against Arthur Villanueva by sixth-round stoppage in July. Inoue last fought in December when he beat Tasana Salapat by 12-round unanimous decision for the interim WBC title.
Oubaali is a 33-year-old southpaw who boasts a perfect record of 16-0 along with 12 Kos. He’s obviously got some power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 75 per cent and has gone the distance in just one of his last seven fights and that was against Warren. Oubaali also captured the vacant WBC Silver Bantamweight crown in June of 2017 via a 10th-round TKO over Alejandro Hernandez. He defended it against Mark Anthony Geraldo by seventh-round in December, 2017 and also has a seventh-round win over Iran Diaz in May, 2016.
Oubaali is 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 64-inch reach and has boxed 82 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014. Oubaali is a former Olympian as he represented France at the 2008 Games in Beijing and the 2012 event in London, England. He lost to Zou Shiming of China in 2008 and interestingly enough he edged Warren 19-18 on points in 2012 and was then beaten 22-18 by Michael Conlan of Ireland.
The 23-year-old Inoue is the younger brother Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue, who’s taking on Nonito Donaire in the main event in the final of the World Boxing Super Series and also for the IBF and WBA Bantamweight Crowns. The younger Inoue owns a perfect mark of 13-0 with 3 Kos. He turned pro in 2013 and has 105 rounds of experience under his belt. Inoue’s just over 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 64-inch reach which means he’s the same size as the champion.
Inoue doesn’t possess much in the way of power though with a current knockout ratio of just 23.1 per cent. He’s never fought a pro with a losing record and beat Mark Anthony Geraldo by unanimous decision in 2015 for the vacant OPBF Super Flyweight Title and then defended it twice before moving up in weight. Inoue has a decent chin but was dropped by Froilan Saludar in the first round in 2016. He also enjoyed a fine amateur career and boxed at the 2011 World Junior Championships in Kazakhstan.
Prediction…
This is a tough call. Oubaali has a lot more power than Inoue as well as a solid chin. However, he’s 10 years older and will be fighting in Inoue’s backyard, where the challenger is sure to be motivated by the crowd. Both boxers possess speed, like to let their hands go and are quite entertaining. I’d be very surprised if Inoue was able to stop Oubaali and I have a feeling the champ is going to retain his belt by win or draw.
