Naoya Inoue laid waste to Nonito Donaire to unify the WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring bantamweight boxing titles last night (Mon., June 7, 2022) at Saitana Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, improving his record to 23-0 with 20 knockouts.
“The Filipino Flash,” 10 years older than “The Monster” at age 39, fell to 42-7 (28 KOs).
“The very first round, I received the left hook from Nonito,” Inoue said during his post-fight interview (via Boxing Scene). “That punch made me wake up and I stayed focused for the [rest of the] fight. To be able to reach my status up at the top, I needed to win this fight. So, I just decided to finish this fight at this moment.”
Check out Inoue’s second-round finish embedded above.
“My aim is to be the undisputed champion,” Inoue continued. “If I can do that within the year of 2022, I would love to stay in this division. But if I can’t, I am capable of [moving up to 122 pounds] and fighting for a belt.”
Inoue previously defeated Donaire by way of unanimous decision back in late 2019.