By Jeff Aronow: #1 WBO 154-lb contender Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs0) dominated the overmatched former world title challenger Takeshi Inoue (17-2-1, 10 KOs) in winning a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on Wednesday night at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Tszyu landed many hard body shots in the fight due to Inoue being shelled up with a high guard to keep from getting hit upstairs. In the championship rounds, Tszyu looked tired and arm-weary from throwing a lot of shots against the punching bag-like Inoue.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of giving and take in the contest, largely8 because Inoue showed no willingness to exchange with the heavy-handed Tszyu.
It appeared that Inoue’s goal for the fight was to survive the 12 rounds without getting knocked out, and he accomplished that goal but at the cost of losing.
This was pretty much the same performance we saw from Inoue in his lopsided 12 round unanimous decision defeat against former WBO 154-lb champion Jaime Munguia in 2019.
Inoue shelled up in that fight, too, hiding behind a high guard and blocking and taking shots the entire fight like a sparring partner. Munguia was a lot more willing to let his hands go and take chances in that fight than what we saw from Tszyu tonight, but that’s typical for the Mexican knockout artist.
In contrast to Tszyu, Munguia is a high-volume puncher with heavy hands. In Tszyu’s case, he looked cautious and loaded up on body shots and threw jabs to the head. Inoue was there to be knocked out if Tszyu had relentlessly attacked him, but he didn’t seem to want to do that. Perhaps Tszyu was worried about getting clipped or gassing out.
The scores were 120-107, 119-108, 120-107. Boxing News 24 scored it 117-111 for Tszyu.
Overall, it wasn’t an outstanding performance from Tszyu that he needed to show that he belongs among the top guys at 154, as it clearly showed that he needs more experience before tackling the big dogs in the division.
The 27-year-old Tszyu knocked Inoue down in the 12th round, but apart from that, there wasn’t much to the fight. Tszyu fought clinically against the overly cautious Inoue, who kept a high guard the entire 12 round contest to avoid getting hit with headshots.
In the fifth round, Tszyu hurt Inoue with a shot to the head, causing the Japanese fighter to lose his composure and turn his back to him. Inoue then retreated across the ring in an amateurish way. Tszyu held back from taking advantage of Inoue from training him with a shot to the head when he was defenseless.
Tszyu was a little too controlled against Inoue because this was a guy that he needed to steamroll to show that he belongs among the top fighters at 154.
Inoue was there to be battered tonight due to the way he was shelling up like a sparring partner, but Tszyu looked hesitant to bombard him for fear of being hit.
The top junior middleweights, Jermell Charlo, Brian Castano, Erickson Lubin, and Israil Madirmov, would have feasted on Inoue had they been in there tonight.
“It was a great experience,” Tszyu said after the fight on his win over Inoue. “The guy’s built like a brick wall. F***ing hit him with anything, and he doesn’t go down.
“I don’t think any heavyweights can drop him. Hands up to him. I’m sure he’s going to be sore tomorrow. Man, what a warrior!”
Inoue had never been knocked down before he met the Australian, and it took until the final round for him to touch the canvas – albeit in a knockdown that was mainly due to his foot losing grip on a slippery floor.
“I didn’t feel s**t. I was just having a good time!” said Tszyu in putting a positive spin on his less than impressive performance.