By Mark Eisner: IBF/WBA 118-lb champion Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) defeated WBA bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (40-6, 26 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Thursday night to win the World Boxing Super Series tournament at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The judges scores were 116-111, 117-109, and 114-113. Boxing News 24 had Inoue winning 117-109.
Donaire, 36, was knocked down in the 11th round from a body shot from Inoue. The ‘Filipino Flash’ BARELY beat the count after being dropped. Surprisingly, Donaire came back late in the round to hurt the bleeding Inoue with a big left hook to the jab.
Inoue hurt in round 9
In the 9th, Donaire staggered Inoue with a hard right hand that turned his legs to jelly. Donaire just barely missed a follow up left hook that would have likely dropped Inoue had he landed it. For the remainder of the round, Donaire was content to box rather than going after the hurt Inoue. That was a missed opportunity on Nonito’s part, as he had Inoue on weak legs and ready to be knocked out.
It’s quite possible that Donaire had gassed out from the expenditure of energy, and didn’t enough fuel to capitalize on Inoue being hurt.
In the 2nd round, Inoue was cut over his right eye from a left hook by Donaire. The cut would bleed the remainder of the fight. A round later, Donaire landed a hard right to the nose of Inoue that bloodied. The nose was a problem from that point on.
Donaire let Inoue back into the fight
Inoue took advantage of Donaire fighting conservatively in round 10 and 11 to nail him with hard punches to the midsection and head. However, Inoue didn’t go all out for the knockout because was looking to catch him with left hooks when forget his defense.
Overall, it was a huge performance by both fighters. Donaire took a lot of punishment though, and it’s unclear whether he’ll continue his career. He came close to scoring a knockout, but the younger fighter Inoue got the victory.
If Donaire had a little bit more in the tank, he might have knocked out out Inoue. He really had Inoue hurt in round nine, and he was doing damage each time he landed anything. Inoue was able to ride out the shots by moving his head with them, but he was still bothered by them.
The Japanese fighter was tired at having to fight a bout that extended into the late rounds. Inoue didn’t look like he was ready to fight a hard 12 rounds, which isn’t surprising. Going into tonight’s fight, Inoue had knocked out 15 of his last 18 opponents. You’re not going to build great stamina if you’re knocking guys out in the first or second round the way Inoue has been doing.
Nordine Oubaali decisions Takuma Inoue
In a tougher fight than expected, WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali (17-0, 12 KOs) had to dig deep to defeated undefeated interim WBC champion Takuma Inoue (13-1, 3 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision. Inoue had Oubaali hurt in the 12th round after connecting with a big right hand shot to the head.
The judges scored it 120-107, 117-110, and 115-112.
Boxing News 24 scored it 115-112 or the 30-year-old Oubaali. The fight was a lot closer than the 120-107 and 117-110 scores turned in by two of the judges.
Oubaali had Inoue hurt in 4th
In round 4, Oubaali dropped Inoue with a big shot to the head. Inoue’s legs badly wobbled as he went down. After he got back up, he was able to hold long enough to get out of the round. Inoue, the younger brother of Naoya Inoue, came back strong in the fifth, and took advantage of Oubaali’s uneven aggression. The stamina for the Frenchman wasn’t there, and that allowed Takuma to creep back into the fight.
From rounds 6 through 12, Inoue pressured Oubaali and got the better of him at times. Inoue started a little late for him to get the victory, but he fought well though. He needed more punching power, and he would have likely won it.
