Naoya Inoue W12 Nonito Donaire... Naoya Inoue continued building his legacy as one of the great boxers in the proud fistic history of Japan. Inoue defeated Nonito Donaire by decision in a difficult fight. In doing so, he unified the WBA and IBF bantamweight championships and brought home the Muhammad Ali Trophy as the fourth winner of the World Boxing Super Series. In a great nod to Japanese tradition, Inoue was presented with the trophy by Fighting Harada, the former world champion and Hall of Fame who is revered in Japan and boxing circles throughout the world.  As for the fight itself, it did not disappoint. The 36 year-old Donaire, in the twilight of his own Hall of Fame career did himself proud, fighting an extremely competitive fight for ten rounds. Inoue, ten years younger, pulled away at the end despite a large cut over his right eye, which he said gave him double vision for most of the bout. Official scores were 114-113, 116-111 and 117-109 

 

With Inoue bleeding from his nose and cut  over his right eye, he landed a hard combination near the end of round ten that foreshadowed what was soon to come. Inoue roared out for the eleventh and began punishing Donaire with an array of hard blows. After a liver shot connected, Donaire turned away, backed across the ring and took a knee, obviously in great distress. He got up at about nine and a half, but fought stiffly, unable to move away from Inoue, yet refusing to go down. Donaire landed one hard shot that caused Inoue to back off momentarily, but the eleventh was three rounds of hard pain for Donaire. Inoue did not press for the knockout in round twelve. source: dazn

 

 

 

photos: Naoki Fukuda