Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue collected all the championship belts in the second category
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Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue, thanks to a knockout victory over Filipino Marlon Tapales, secured the status of a living legend of the sport at the age of 30. Inoue, who has an impeccable record of 26 wins, mostly early, after her became only the second fighter in the modern era to achieve the title of absolute world champion in two weight categories. Following the category up to 53.5 kg, he submitted, and very quickly, in one year, the next one – up to 55 kg.
This year in professional boxing was crowned with the most striking event that happened in Tokyo. And its main character was Naoya Inoue, nicknamed Monster, who was incredibly popular in his homeland.
Inoue has been recognized as a real phenomenon, without any reservations, for quite some time now, despite the fact that his age, by the standards of the species, cannot yet be called completely veteran. In fact, it was not difficult to discern his colossal talent even, say, ten years ago, when he was just starting his professional career. Inoue looked ideally suited to it, in the sense that he combined the highest speed required for all great featherweights with an element that is not entirely necessary. His boxing was always striking in its exceptional toughness and prickliness, which ultimately provided incredible statistics – in approximately 90% of cases matches were won ahead of schedule. Any heavyweight can be proud of this figure.
And the development of the Japanese career only confirmed predictions about his potential. Naoya Inoue started in the up to 50 kg category and reached the championship title in it. Then he decided that it was time to “get heavier,” and won it in the weight category up to 52.1 kg.
Inoue turned into a real celebrity at the end of the last decade. Then he made another transition – to the “rooster weight”, up to 53.5 kg. It turned out triumphant. The Japanese was immediately included in the number of participants in the so-called World Boxing Super Series – a tournament featuring the best fighters in the category with the title of absolute world champion at stake. He took it extremely impressively, defeating the outstanding Filipino Nonito Donaire in the final.
Naoya Inoue spent some time after this at the same weight in order, for example, to humiliate Donaire again, knocking him out in the second round, and then wanted to conquer the top even more difficult. Now it was about the category up to 55.2 kg and the pursuit of the record.
The fact is that in the modern, let’s say, history of boxing, one in which four championship belts are highly rated at once – the World Boxing Council (WBC), the International Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Organization ( WBO), which earned prestige and respect at the turn of the previous and current centuries, until 2023 there was no fighter who managed to become the absolute champion in two categories. In July, the American Terence Crawford made a breakthrough. the one who has overcome compatriot Errol Spence and to this title in weight up to 63.5 kg added the title in weight up to 66.7 kg. It is Crawford who currently leads all authoritative classifications of the strongest boxers, regardless of category. In the overwhelming majority of them – say, The Ring and ESPN ratings – Naoya Inoue is in second position. Although, perhaps, what happened in Tokyo will correct the balance in his favor – the Japanese’s next rise was too impressive.
Inoue crushed this weight – up to 55.2 kg – surprisingly quickly. He made his debut in July, destroying the excellent American boxer Stephen Fulton and taking the WBC and WBO belts from him. Marlon Tapales, holder of the IBF and WBA titles, was considered an even more dangerous opponent than Fulton, but suffered much the same fate.
In the fourth round, Naoya Inoue shocked the Filipino with a left hand, followed by a series of hits, and forced the referee to count the knockdown.
Despite him, Tapales tried to be aggressive, to look for counter chances, but to no avail. Inoue was clearly superior.
It all ended in the tenth round. The Japanese hit the Filipino in the head with his right hand twice in a row. Strictly speaking, the hits were not clean – the defense nevertheless softened them slightly. But it seems that what experts call “accumulated damage” played a role: Tapales had missed too much before and was already “floating” a little, holding on with all his strength. In general, having encountered these blows, he sat down on the floor, desperately tried to get to his feet while the referee was counting, but they refused to listen to him.
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