TOKYO (Agencies).- On the same stage in which James ‘Buster’ Douglas starred in one of the biggest surprises in boxing history, by knocking out Mike Tyson, another enormous impact was about to occur. Naoya Inouethe undefeated considered the best boxer in the history of Japan, was knocked down this Monday for the first time in his career, but managed to retain the world super bantamweight champion belt and his undefeated record with a tremendous victory by KO against the Mexican challenger Luis Nery.
In the Tokyo Dome, in front of 55,000 spectators, Inoue, 31 years old and a superstar in his country, put the hearts of all of Japan in suspense when he fell in the first round to an impact from Nery in this fight for the super bantamweight title. of the four categories. Nery’s left hook dropped the Japanese for the first time in his career, but the champion got up and then dropped Nery in the second round with his own left hook to regain the momentum of the fight.
Another left hand from Inoue sent Nery to the canvas in the fifth round, before a right hand ended the fight in the sixth round, and the Japanese retained his WBC, WBO, WBA and US belts. FIB before a sold-out audience.
Inoue thus reached a professional record of 27-0, with 24 of his victories by knockout or technical knockout. Mexican Nery suffered the second KO of his professional career, leaving him with a record of 35-2. The Japanese is only the second fighter to become undisputed champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004, after the American Terence Crawford. He reiterated in this fight, at super bantamweight (55,338 kg), what he had already achieved in the lower division (bantamweight, 53,500 kg) in 2022. All the belts at the same time.
Inoue had just defeated the Filipino Marlon Tapales by KO in ten rounds, a victory that consolidated him as one of the best boxers of the moment. With a perfect record, the Japanese maintains an immaculate image. In force since his first ecumenical conquest, when at just 20 years old and weighing 48,988 kilos, he won the light flyweight (WBC) title against the Mexican Adrián Hernández, in 2014, to immediately move towards the super flyweights (52,163 kg), where he knocked out the best . Among them, Omar Narváez from Chubut, months later.
Inoue, nicknamed “The Monster” or “Dragon Ball”, has the charm of those who seduce both in fencing and in “demolition”. In boxing and in fighting. Something that very few can achieve. He is much more plastic and artistic than the North American Crawford in the ring and has not lost those skills despite the promotion in categories. He has a natural angel of his own, difficult to explain.
“I think I got a big surprise in the first round. I’m not happy that I went to the mat, but having that happen gave me great motivation. “I am very grateful to have had a fight with Luis Nery,” said Inoue. Last December, he was able to demolish and knock out Tapales, former IBF and WBA champion, and that was the big question he needed to answer. He demolished a tough, an unbreakable. The future? It is in the hands of promoter Bob Arum, who at 92 years old, has a fixed goal: to take him back to Las Vegas, where he fought a couple of times.
This was the first boxing match held in the legendary Tokyo Dome since that challenge in which the unknown ‘Buster’ Douglas stripped Mike Tyson of his undefeated record and the heavyweight crown in February 1990, one of the most successful results. unexpected events in the history of this sport.