By Ian S Palmer
Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire supplied plenty of drama in Saitama on November 7th with the local hero from Yokohama punching his way to an exciting unanimous decision over the Filipino Flash in Japan. In a fight that was a lot closer than many expected, the 26-year-old Inoue added the 36-year-old Donaire’s WBA Super World Bantamweight Belt to his own IBF version.
In addition Inoue, known as ‘The Monster’ for his punching power, captured the World Boxing Series’ Muhammad Ali Trophy with the conquest. Donaire, who showed he still has a lot left in the tank even though he’s a decade older than Inoue, saw his record fall to 40-6 with 26 Kos with the defeat while the Japanese star remains undefeated at 19-0 with 16 Kos. After the fight, Inoue stated, “Donaire was very, very tough for me. I see him as a true champion. He’s very strong but I was victorious but I also need to get stronger.”
Both boxers used the opening three minutes for target practice rather than feeling each other out and landed some telling blows. Donaire answered back each time he was hit and then became the aggressor in the second round. He opened a cut over Inoue’s right eye with a well-placed left and continued to press the action.
The younger boxer then swung the momentum in the fifth and rocked Donaire, opening up on him and connecting with both hands until the bell. By the eighth round, Inoue’s cut became more noticeable but didn’t appear to hamper his vision although he claimed after the fight he started to see double.
Donaire landed what was possibly the best head shot of the fight in the ninth when he rocked Inoue’s world with a huge right hand. However, for seem reason he didn’t follow up on it and let the youngster off the hook. It was then Inoue’s turn in the 10th as he staggered Donaire in last minute of the round and continued attacking until the bell halted the punishment.
Inoue started round 11 where he left off the 10th by continuing to throw leather and dug a left hand into Donaire’s body. It caused a delayed reaction with the Las Vegas-based Donaire dropping to his knee in the corner. He just managed to beat the count and then had to withstand another two-handed onslaught until the round ended.
Donaire recovered well during the 60-second break and still looked dangerous as the two frantically exchanged blows in the final round. The judges called it 116-111, 117-109 and 114-113 with the last score being a little hard to fathom.
Donaire may have lost the fight but proved he’s still an elite boxer at 118 lbs with power and speed and also displayed a granite chin. Inoue advanced to the World Boxing Super Series final and won the IBF belt when he stopped Emmanuel Rodriguez in the second round in May while Donaire stopped Stephon Young in the sixth round in April.
Donaire had beaten Ryan Burnett in the first round of the tournament when Burnett suffered a back injury in the fourth round and couldn’t continue. He also won the WBA belt and the WBC Diamond Bantamweight Crown with the victory. Inoue had stopped Juan Carlos Payano in just 70 seconds in his opening bout. After winning the Ali Trophy, Inoue announced he has signed a promotional deal with Top Rank and plans to fight twice in America next year and once in Japan.
In the co-feature, 33-year-old WBC Bantamweight Champion Nordine Oubaali of France remained undefeated at 17-0 with 12 Kos with a unanimous decision over Takuma Inoue (13-1, 3 Kos). It was the first pro loss for Inoue, the younger brother of Naoya. Oubaali dropped Inoue in fourth round but the younger fighter landed his fair share of shots, especially right hands, but lacked the power of the southpaw Oubaali’s left.
The fight basically followed the same script and when the 10th round started it was evident Inoue needed a knockout to win. Inoue gave it a valiant effort with his best round being the 12th but ultimately fell short by scores of 120-107, 117-110 and 115-112 with the 120-107 scorecard being way out of whack.
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.
