NAOYA INOUE takes on Luis Nery today in a huge undisputed super-bantamweight title clash in Tokyo.
The Monster is undefeated and one of the top pound-for-pound talents in all of boxing while Nery is a former world champion – so get ready for what should be a cracker of a fight.
By Alex Smith
Tonight’s results
A wonderful night for Japanese boxing in front of a sell out crowd at the Tokyo Dome.
Naoya Inoue beats Luis Nery
Yoshiki Takei beats Jason Moloney
Takuma Inoue beats Sho Ishida
Seigo Yuri Akui beats Taku Kuwahara
Credit: AFP
By Alex Smith
King of the ring
Naoya Inoue retains his undisputed IBF, WBA, WBC & WBO super-bantamweight titles.
He takes his record to 27-0 and 16 of his 17 fights have ended in a knockout.
The Monster lives up to the nickname and the hype.
By Alex Smith
Naoya Inoue wins
Incredible stuff. A knockout victory.
Inoue was on the canvas in round one – but then scores three knock downs and his third in round six is enough to finish the fight.
The Japanese undefeated champion catches him with a strong left-hand and sends Nery to the deck.
The Mexican’s body is hanging throw the ropes and it’s job done.
Credit: AFP
By Alex Smith
Round Five
Inoue is alive, he has found his rhythm and Nery’s counter tactics are no longer working.
Simply brilliant punch variation and The Monster is breaking him down.
At the end of the round, Inoue catches his rival with a stunning close range left hook and knocks Nery to the canvas.
Credit: AFP
By Alex Smith
Round Four
Inoue is warmed up now and he is beginning to show his class.
He has not been hit with the punch that knocked him down in round one since and has clearly wised up to Nery’s counter punching.
Inoue has been doing all the throwing and Nery’s nose is looking bloody.
Wonderful combinations as he goes from the head to the body successively.
By Alex Smith
Round Three
Strong combinations. Down to the body after a jab from Inoue sees Nery off balance.
Again the current champion dodges with head movements brilliantly and exposes Nery with a quick head shot back while his hands are down.
By Alex Smith
Round Two
Nery starts round two strongly but Inoue fights back well, playing to his strength as he goes for body shots.
And Inoue gets immediate revenge by knocking down the Mexican fighter.
He throws the left hand – but the wild swing misses – and Inoue punishes the mistake with a strong counter-punch that knocks him back.
It’s a knockdown each after two rounds. Brilliant entertainment.
By Alex Smith
Round One
What a start from Nery! He knocks champion Inoue down after two minutes.
A powerful left hook sends him to canvas as The Monster leaves himself unguarded after an attack.
It is the first time the 26-0 star has been knocked down in his career.
How will he respond?
By Alex Smith
Inoue vs Nery
The main event is here. Both walk on and it is quite show of special effects and live music.
55,000 fans are creating a fantastic atmosphere inside the Tokyo Dome.
By Alex Smith
Yoshiki Takei wins
We have a new WBO bantamweight world champion.
It is an unanimous decision victory for Takei (117-110, 116-111, 116-111).
The home favourite is the deserved winner and picks up the belt in just his ninth pro boxing clash.
A wonderful performance, landing several body shots and surviving a bruising late attack from Moloney.
By Alex Smith
We await a winner…
Takei and Moloney embrace – great respect between the fighters.
Credit: AFP
By Alex Smith
Rounds 10-12
Impressive tenth round from Takei as some good footwork sees Moloney fail to land enough punches.
And he continues to keep a good distance from the Aussie in the eleventh and his body shot tactics seem to have taken its toll on Moloney.
Moloney knows he may need a knockout in this last round and he throws an awful lot of punches.
Takei looks shattered and he is struggling.
But it could be too little do late for Moloney as it took 11 rounds to dominate.
By Alex Smith
Rounds 7-9
Round seven is close but probably Moloney’s best so far.
And he follows it up with a stunning combination in round eight.
Takei is perhaps fading a little as he is not used to 12-round contest compared to Moloney who very much is.
Not much to split them in round nine.
By Alex Smith
Rounds 4-6
After a word from his team, Moloney ups it early in round four and lands a good jab.
But Takei is showing maturity for such an inexperienced boxer, picking him moments well and had his rival into a corner.
Instructions can be heard clearly from Moloney’s corner – desperate for him to get his right hand involved in the fifth round – but he is not really doing it.
Finally, in round six Moloney finds some better shots and it’s his best round so far apart from being hit with a right hook at the end.
By Alex Smith
Rounds 1-3
A positive start for Takei in the opening round – but he is warned about low blows.
And he doesn’t learn his lesson in the second as he again continues with low punches.
The referee has seen enough and slaps Takei with a point penalty to the fighter’s frustration.
In the third, Takei is dominating and a heavy right hand knocked Moloney off balance.
Body shots are working and the man nicknamed Mayhem finds himself in a spot of bother.
By Alex Smith
Jason Moloney vs Yoshiki Takei
Aussie fighter Jason Moloney is next up in the ring as he looks to retain his WBO bantamweight strap.
Yoshiki Takei is his opponent and the home favourite has the full support of the crowd at the Tokyo Dome.
This is just the Japanese star’s eight professional boxing bout and he was formally a kickboxing champion.
Credit: AFP
By Alex Smith
Takuma wins
Takuma Inoue recovers from his first round knock down to defeat Sho Ishida.
Inoue dominated the contest by the end of the bout and won via unanimous decision.
He retains his bantamweight WBA title.
By Alex Smith
Inoue’s brother knocked down
In the next undercard fight, Takuma Inoue, takes to the ring to fight Sho Ishida.
But the Inoue takeover in Tokyo is not off to a good start.
Takuma has fallen to the canvas in the first round.
A light jab from Ishida knocks him to the floor and catches Takuma off guard.
He is quickly back on his feet looking a little confused as to how that shot saw him fall over.
By Alex Smith
Job done
The undercard action has begun and the first result is in.
Seigo Yuri Akui has beaten Taku Kuwahara via unanimous decision.
It was his first fight while defending his WBA Flyweight belt.
By Alex Smith
Going all In
Naoya Inoue hasn’t been in action since a dominant stoppage win over Marlon Tapales in December 2023.
His win came after four-weight world champ Stephen Fulton in a brutal bout in July 2023.
Now he returns to face former two-weight world champion Nery
Nery has previously fought in Japan against Shinsuke Yamanaka, beating him via TKO in the fourth round.
The Mexican failed a drug test after the fight but it was later ruled to be due to contaminated food.
Nery re-matched and beat Yamanaka but failed to make weight for the bout and was subsequently banned from fighting in Japan.
He’s now back to fight in the Land of the Rising Sun, however, but this time he’s up against arguably their greatest ever fighter in Inoue.
By Alex Smith
Inoue vs Nery
Naoya Inoue faces Luis Nery at the Tokyo Dome today.
Nicknamed “The Monster”, the Japanese fighter is looking to extend his undefeated professional record.
And he defends his WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA featherweight titles.
But Mexico’s Nery is set to put up a huge challenge with his impressive 35-1 record.
