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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Boxing devider Donaire's 'road to undisputed' ends as Inoue unifies bantam belts

Donaire's 'road to undisputed' ends as Inoue unifies bantam belts

Published Jun 8, 2022 03:56 pm

Butler's WBO strap up next for Inoue

Nonito Donaire's "road to undisputed" may have come to an end at this point as Naoya Inoue emerged victorious anew and settled their business once and for all in the second part of "Drama in Saitama" last June 7.

Naoya Inoue (right) corners Nonito Donaire in their bantamweight unification boxing rematch at Saitama Super Arena in Japan Tuesday, June 7. (AFP)

Donaire had a taste of his own medicine as Inoue lived up to his nickname "Monster" and unloaded powerful hooks and punished the "Filipino Flash" from the get-go.

Inoue's left hooks, ironically Donaire's signature weapon, were on point as the Japanese boxing icon landed one with a perfectly timed swing at the 1:51 mark.

Inoue, looking for the finish, advanced to the ropes and unleashed a deadly combination to send Donaire down the canvas as referee Michael Griffin halted the match at the 1:24 mark of the second round.

Their second encounter was a far cry from the first slugfest in November 2019 where both boxers exchanged punches until the 12th round which earned enough credit to be honored as Fight of the Year.

With the win, Inoue, 29, has unified the World Boxing Council belt with his super World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles.

Apart from that, the Zama, Kanagawa native boxer remained unbeaten in 23 matches built on 20 knockouts.

Only the World Boxing Organization (WBO) strap, owned by Paul Butler, is the missing link for Inoue to become bantamweight's undisputed champion.

"My aim is to be the undisputed champion," said Inoue in Japanese after the fight. "If I can do that within a year in 2022, I would love to stay in this division. But if I can't, I'm capable of raising my division and fight in the upper division."

Unfortunately for Donaire, 39, talks of retirement have surfaced following his heartbreaking loss against Inoue but he has yet to address the situation.

Still, the four-division world boxing champion expressed gratitude both to Inoue and his fans for the support.

"We came up short today (Tuesday) but I do appreciate you guys," said the Boholano pugilist through a live session shortly after the bout. "Inoue got my really good. I was always gonna keep fighting. And I'm glad that the referee stopped the fight because I'm always gonna stand up. That's just a part of me. I just don't have any quit on me.

"I just wanna say thank you to everybody. I came in there with an amazing game plan and train hard and I was very, very confident. But y'know, I didn't implement the game plan early on so it is what it is.

"Inoue is an amazing fighter and I'm glad that I get to share the ring with him and he as well said the same thing," added Donaire, who sustained a 42-7 record with 28 knockouts.

Meanwhile, aside from Butler, former WBO titlist John Riel Casimero, who was embroiled in several controversies the past couple of months, made noise on social media and joined in the fray in challenging Inoue.

Since 2020, both Casimero and Inoue had bad blood as the former used to trash-talk the latter, especially with the infamous callout as the "Japanese Turtle."

Related Tags

Nonito Donaire World Boxing Association WBC WBA Drama in Saitama World Boxing Council Naoya Inoue International Boxing Federation IBF
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