Naoya Inoue is one of today’s top boxing superstars. Currently on a hot streak and looking unbeatable, he is the undisputed super bantamweight champion, holding all four belts (IBF, WBA, WBO, and WBC) from boxing’s major sanctioning bodies. As he looks forward to fighting this December and extends his knockout streak to ten, let’s look back into Inoue’s seven best wins inside the squared circle.
Who Is Naoya Inoue?
Naoya Inoue is one of this generation’s best boxers from Japan. Early in his boxing career, Inoue looked promising and had 75 wins as an amateur before turning as a pro at 19. Two years into his professional career, he claimed his first world title, the WBC Light Flyweight, stopping the champion in the 6th round.
He is a four-division world champion and has conquered the (WBO) Super Flyweight, (IBF, WBA, WBO, WBC, and The Ring) Bantamweight, and (IBF, WBA, WBO, WBC, and The Ring) Super Bantamweight to become the undisputed at bantamweight and super bantamweight division.
Now peaking at 31 years, he is the unified super bantamweight champion with 28 wins (25 KOs) and no losses under his belt. Inoue is among the few who were able to unify the four world titles at a different weight class.
Inoue’s Top 7 Wins
Every one of Inoue’s wins is a remarkable showcase of his skill, heart, grit, and constant development as a fighter every time he steps into the squared circle. Below are some of Inoue’s best wins.
1) Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire, UD And TKO (November 7, 2019 And June 7, 2022)
Inoue and Donaire have met on two occasions, with the first one ending competitively and the second being a total domination at the hands of Inoue.
The first Donaire fight is likely the most formidable challenge of Inoue’s career. As challenging as the fight may have been, it answered a lot of questions boxing fans had about Inoue. This fight proved that Inoue has the chin, the will to win, and the toughness to overcome adversity, which are critical factors a champion must have.
Despite suffering a fractured orbital bone and admitting to having double-vision during the fight, Inoue pressed on to outbox Donaire and even scored a knockdown in the 11th round, going a complete 12 rounds of high-quality boxing exchanges and winning via unanimous decision on the scorecards. Both fighters showed their heart in this fight by finishing strong, to the delight of the fans.
The second Donaire fight for the Bantamweight World Title Unification was far from competitive and ended quickly. After losing his first fight to Inoue, Donaire earned his title shot by knocking out an undefeated champion and beating a young and upcoming contender in two world title fights. Inoue drastically improved since their first fight and Donaire’s age is also slowly catching up at this point.
Nevertheless, Inoue hunted Donaire down during the match and even scored a knockdown at the end of the first round. He continued to finish the demolition job with a series of hard shots to the head and body and finished the match halfway through the second round, winning the match by technical knockout.
2) Naoya Inoue vs. Omar Narváez, TKO (December 30, 2014)
The same year he won his WBC Flyweight Title, Inoue went on to skip a weight class, coming from flyweight up to junior bantamweight. He found the WBO champion Omar Narvaez, who had been undefeated for some years and successfully made 11 title defenses before the fight with Inoue. The young Inoue scored an early knockdown 30 seconds into the fight, followed by another a minute later. Inoue continued to batter Narvaez and ended the fight before the second round ended, winning by TKO via body shot.
3) Naoya Inoue vs. Jamie McDonnell, TKO (May 25, 2018)
McDonnell is Inoue’s first fight as a bantamweight for the WBA title. McDonnell was undefeated for a decade with a significant weight advantage after rehydrating from the official weigh-ins. Mid-way through the match, Inoue landed a devastating body shot by setting it up with a hard shot to the head, which resulted in a knockdown. Seconds after, Inoue stalked down McDonnell and rained down heavy punches, forcing him yet again to fall down the canvas, securing the TKO win. This match confirmed that Inoue is a force to reckon with and a talent to look out for.
4) Naoya Inoue vs. Paul Butler, KO (December 13, 2022)
Inoue faced Paul Butler, that time’s reigning WBO Bantamweight champion, for a title unification bout. Throughout the match, Inoue aggressively drove Butler to the ropes as he hunted him down to set up vicious body shots by throwing powerful head punches that forced Butler into a high guard. Inoue won via TKO in the 11th round, stopping Butler with repeated head and body shots.
After his win, he became the first undisputed bantamweight champion in the four-belt era and the only boxer to become champion, winning the four major sanctioning organizations via knockout.
5) Naoya Inoue vs. Stephen Fulton, TKO (July 25, 2023)
Inoue’s win over Stephen Fulton is one of the most impressive performances of 2023. It is a dominant display of boxing topped with a TKO against an undefeated champion in his prime. During the match, Inoue kept throwing jabs at Fulton’s body and stepped back, creating a pattern that made Fulton think it was all he was going to do. Inoue then throws the jab to the body, opening Fulton up for a straight right, which perfectly landed on the jaw when Fulton was unsuspecting of the setup and accurately blitzing Fulton down to end the fight.
6) Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales, KO (December 26, 2023)
Inoue’s win over Marlon Tapales is proof of his punching power. Tapales held two belts at the time and fought a hard battle in which Inoue exhibited his versatility at the highest level, claiming the undisputed status in a second weight class. Inoue’s power seemed too much for Tapales as he broke through his high guard and kept punching through it until it broke, knocking him out in such a devastating fashion.
7) Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery, KO (May 6, 2024)
Inoue’s fight against Luis Nery stunned boxing fans as Nery knocked down Inoue in the first round with a left hook. The knockdown fired Inoue up as he got back up to his feet. He then knocked Nery down in the next round and sent him down once again in the fifth round before finishing the fight in the sixth round with a right hook. This was Inoue’s first fight after he became the undisputed super bantamweight world champion.
Conclusion
With a hint of a possible move to featherweight, Inoue is set to fight once more in Japan later this year before heading to Las Vegas, where he will potentially fight more prominent names. Moving up to the featherweight would mean leaving his super-bantamweight belts up. Who do you think Inoue should fight next?
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