Two knockdowns pave the way to a clear points victory – Inoue controls the pace, distance and ring action against the experienced Ioka.
Takuma Inoue defended his WBC bantamweight title with a clear unanimous decision victory over former four-time world champion Kazuto Ioka. Inoue thus ensured a successful start for the Inoue brothers, while his older brother Naoya then took on Junto Nakatani in the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history in front of 55,000 spectators at the Tokyo Dome.
Inoue (22-2, 5 KOs) clearly prevailed on the judges’ scorecards with scores of 119-107, 120-106 and 118-108 to confidently defend his WBC bantamweight belt. For Ioka (32-5-1, 17 KOs), it was his third defeat in his last four fights. He also missed the chance to become world champion in five weight classes. At 37, he seems to have passed his peak, which was reflected in a performance that was characterized by a lack of freshness. In the second round, Inoue skillfully came off the ropes and landed a precise right straight to the chin, followed by a series of punches that sent Ioka to the floor. Ioka got back to his feet in time before the ring bell.
At the start of the third round, Inoue smiled at his battered opponent. After just 30 seconds, he sent Ioka down again with a clean right uppercut. Ioka came up again and continued to look for the forward gear, but Inoue was on another level that evening in Tokyo. With his speed, footwork and ring control, he clearly dominated the rest of the round and the rest of the fight.