Naoya Inoue gave the fans at Tokyo Dome a scare when he was knocked down in the first round of his super bantamweight title fight against Luis Nery. But the champion soon put everyone at ease by taking control of a fight that underpinned his standing as the unquestioned king of the division.
Inoue (27-0) dominated after the first round, sending Nery to the canvas in the second and fifth, before landing a right hook in the sixth round that sent the Mexican slumping down onto the ropes. The referee stopped the fight, giving Inoue the win by TKO.
“The moment that you win is the best feeling ever,” said Inoue, who remains the undisputed super bantamweight champion.
The fight was the main event of the first boxing card at Tokyo Dome since the famous heavyweight title clash between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas in 1990.
Douglas shocked the world by defying the odds and defeating Tyson that night, and Nery gave his supporters brief hope he could pull off a similar stunner.
“As the main event in the first boxing at Tokyo Dome in 34 years, I felt some pressure, but I got power from everyone’s support,” Inoue said. “I think the 40,000 who came here tonight were satisfied by the fight.” (The Japan Times)
毎週届く！
