JAPAN’S NAOYA ‘MONSTER’ Inoue stopped Nonito Donaire of the Philippines in the second round on Tuesday to add the WBC bantamweight world title to his WBA and IBF belts.
Inoue, who beat Donaire over the distance in the consensus best fight of 2019, floored the 39-year-old veteran at the end of the first round and stopped him less than a minute and a half into the second to take his record to 23-0 (20KOs).
Inoue and Donaire’s previous bout in Saitama (north of Tokyo) was crowned Fight of the Year by Ring Magazine, Boxing News and the Boxing Writer’s Association of America, and saw the Japanese fighter recover from a fractured eye socket and double vision to claim a unanimous points win.
The hotly anticipated rematch at the same venue turned out to be a completely different contest, with Inoue living up to his ‘Monster’ nickname by dominating the Filipino great.
Inoue sent Donaire to the canvas with a huge right hand at the end of the first round, then picked up the pace when the bell rang to start the second.
DOWN GOES DONAIRE IN R1 😱@NaoyaInoue_410 x #InoueDonaire2 pic.twitter.com/MMnhOvub4w
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) June 7, 2022
He landed a heavy shot that wobbled Donaire on his feet, before a barrage of punches — punctuated with a thudding left hand — sent ‘The Filipino Flash’ to the floor and convinced the referee to stop the fight.
MONSTROUS DESTRUCTION 👹 @NaoyaInoue_410 | #InoueDonaire2 | #DramaInSaitama2 pic.twitter.com/S7PCACgDEM
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) June 7, 2022
Just as he had in their original bout, Donaire today showed tremendous courage to attempt to withstand the onslaught but, three years deeper into his 30s, and with the 29-year-old Inoue seemingly even more vicious than before, the great Donaire was disposed of in less than five minutes.
Inoue will now aim to become the undisputed bantamweight world champion after taking Donaire’s WBC belt, with Britain’s current WBO title-holder Paul Butler the only obstacle left in his way.
Butler captured previous champion John Riel Casimero’s vacant WBO title when he beat Jonas Sultan by unanimous decision in April.
Butler was elevated from interim to full champion last month when the WBO stripped Casimero of the full title.
