Video: Naoya Inoue wrecks Jason Moloney in 7th round

Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images

Another spectacular KO by Japan’s heavy-hitting bantamweight.

Naoya Inoue’s (19-0, 16 KOs) Las Vegas debut was as good as advertised.

On Halloween night, “The Monster” defended his WBA and IBF bantamweight titles with a dominant seventh-round KO win of Australia’s Jason Moloney (21-2, 18 KOs). It was a scintillating display of offensive boxing that we’ve become accustomed to seeing from Inoue. Moloney had his moments but for every spell of offensive success that he had, Inoue had about five or six per round.

Inoue’s combination punching, speed, and power were all just too much for Moloney to handle. It was apparent just from the opening round that Moloney was going to be in trouble. In round six, a counter left hand put Moloney on the seat of his pants for only the second time in his career. That prompted referee Kenny Bayless to warn Moloney and his corner that if Jason didn’t show something in the seventh round, he’d stop the fight.

The good news for Moloney is he almost made it out of the round and was reasonably competitive while still losing. The bad news is the word “almost” entailed a devastating right hand shot that crumpled Moloney for good. He did not beat the count and Inoue is still the king of the 118 lbs division with a sensational knockout.

Official result: Naoya Inoue def. Jason Moloney by KO at 2:59 of Round 7

Watch the carnage below: