By Dan Ambrose: IBF/WBA bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs) will face WBC champion Nonito Donaire (42-6, 28 KOs) in a three-belt unification contest on June 7th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
This is the long-awaited rematch between the famous 28-year-old unbeaten ‘Monster’ Inoue and 39-year-old Donaire from their fight in 2019, which was won by the Japanese star by a 12 round unanimous decision.
Donaire wanted a rematch all this time against Inoue, and he’s finally gotten his wish. Given how brutal the fight was for Inoue in terms of the punishment he took to his face last time he fought Donaire, it’s not a surprise that it’s taken this long for the rematch to take place.
The Inoue vs. Donaire 2 rematch will be at the same venue as their fight on November 9th, 2019, at the Super Arena in Saitama, a battle in which both guys were hurt.
Donaire was dropped by a hard shot to the midsection in round eleven. He showed toughness in getting up and moving around the ring to prevent Inoue from finishing him. Inoue’s win earned him the World Boxing Super Series trophy.
The scores were 116-111, 114-113, and 117-109, but the last score didn’t match the fight inside the ring. It was closer than that.
In the second round, Inoue suffered a cut over his left eye after Donaire caught him with a hard left hook. Later in the fight, Donaire staggered Inoue with a straight right hand to the head that briefly turned his legs to jelly.
After being hurt, Inoue did an excellent job of ducking Inoue’s huge left hooks, which likely would have knocked him out had they lost.
Inoue suffered a hairline an orbital fracture early in the fight and looked beat up at the end.
“Even though I suffered an orbital fracture in the second round, I tried to stay smart. I won via decision. It was such a big test for me,” said ‘Monster’ Inoue.
Donaire has done an excellent job of returning from the loss to Inoue, defeating WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali by a fourth-round knockout on May 29th, 2021, and then successfully defending the belt by stopping challenger Reymart Gaballo in the 4th on December 11th.
Last year, Donaire had been scheduled to face WBO 118-lb champion John Riel Casimero in a unification fight on August 14th, but he pulled out of the battle over VADA testing.
Since his win over Donaire in 2019, Inoue has stopped Jason Moloney, Michael Dasmarinas, and Aran Dipaen. The fight against Dipaen didn’t make much sense, considering that the Thai fighter was an obscure contender that had never beaten anyone of note to rate a world title shot against Inoue.
Given the weak opposition that Inoue has faced in his last three fights, it’s difficult to know how well he’ll perform under fire from Donaire, who has the power to KO him.
If Inoue hadn’t done such a great job of ducking Donaire’s punches last time they fought, there’s an excellent chance that he would have been knocked out. In the rematch, Inoue will need to avoid those same shots from Donsire if he wants to get the victory.
Despite Donaire’s advanced age of 39, he’s still fighting at an incredibly high level, thanks to his crushing power the hand speed he was blessed with.
Donaire has lost some speed as he’s aged, but he had so much, to begin with, that he’s still more than quick enough to dominate the opposition in the 118-lb division.
The Inoue vs. Donaire rematch on June 7th could come down to which of the two KO artists land first. If Donaire hurts Inoue, the Japanese fighter might not be so lucky to avoid his power shots as he did last time.
Likewise, Donaire might not be able to ride out a body shot knockdown as he did in the 11th round against Inoue.
