MANILA – Nonito Donaire Jr.’s attempt to unify the world bantamweight championship was flushed by Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue in less than six minutes.
Inoue put on a massive display of power, accuracy and dominance last night. He disposed the ageing Donaire in two rounds at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
With that, “The Monster” Inoue as added Donaire’s World Boxing Council bantamweight belt to his collection of World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation division belts.
Donaire made his presence felt early in the opening round. He staggered Inoue with a right straight. But the Japanese responded by dropping the Filipino with a short right hand to the temple.
Seeing Donaire still groggy to start the second round, the Japanese boxer unloaded consecutive punches making the Filipino Flash backtrack to the ropes.
Inoue then went for the kill. He unloaded left and right combinations to the head of Donaire to force the referee to step in and halt the match at 1:24 minute mark.
“Nonito’s punch in the first round woke me up. I was hurt with that right straight. It made me persevere to finish him off early,” Inoue said in his post-match interview.
Inoue, who also defeated Donaire during their first encounter in 2019, paid his tribute to the so-called “Filipino Flash” who could be headed to retirement following his harrowing defeat.
“Nonito is a legend in this sport. I will not be in this position if not for Nonito. I am thankful that he accepted this fight,” the 29-year-old Japanese boxer said.
“After he lost to me (in 2019) and despite his age, he went on to capture a world bantamweight belt. That is why we have this unification match (on Tuesday night),” he added.
With the defeat, the 39-year-old Donaire dropped his record to 42-7-0, including 28 victories by way of stoppages, while Inoue maintained his unbeaten record of 23-0-0, while also notching his 20th stoppage win./PN
