Naoya Inoue shows dominance over twelve rounds and remains undisputed champion – mega-fight against Junto Nakatani draws closer.
The undisputed world super bantamweight champion, Naoya “Monster” Inoue, has defended his title impressively. In the IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan, the undefeated champion beat Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan by unanimous decision on points.
The Japanese fighter (31-0, 27 knockouts) dominated the fight from the start and barely gave his opponent a chance to breathe. The judges scored the fight 118-110, 118-110 and 117-111 in the Japanese fighter’s favor. Akhmadaliev (14-2, 11 knockouts) started cautiously and found no means against Inoue’s higher punch frequency and lightning-fast hands over the entire twelve rounds.
Although Inoue’s run of eleven early victories in a row came to an end, the “Monster’s” performance was still impressive. It was the first time since his fight against Nonito Donaire on November 7, 2019 that Inoue had to go the full distance.
Promoter legend Bob Arum praised his protégé in the ring: “Inoue showed today that he is a complete boxer – with power, footwork and all the attributes that characterize the greats of the sport.” Inoue himself also showed respect for his opponent: “Akhmadaliev is a great boxer. I was able to give my best performance today because of him.”
Next up could be a Japanese mega-fight: A duel between Inoue and the current IBF and WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani is on the cards for the end of the year – a clash that is being touted as the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing.