2019: Naoya Inoue beats Nonito Donaire to win World Boxing Super Series bantamweight final
Naoya Inoue stopped Nonito Donaire midway through the second round on Tuesday night to emphatically win their rematch and unify three bantamweight world titles.
Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs) wasted no time in his second meeting with Donaire, knocking down the veteran champion at the end of the first round and again midway through the second. Inoue’s relentless pressure and power ended the fight at 1:24 in Saitama Super Arena outside Tokyo. He adds Donaire’s WBC belt to his own WBA and IBF straps with his fourth consecutive stoppage victory. The Japanese star is considered one of the world’s top pound-for-pound talents and now hopes to unify all four major bantamweight titles if he can land a fight with WBO bantamweight champ Paul Butler later this year.
Inoue abruptly dropped Donaire with a short right hand moments before the bell to end the first round. Donaire got up comfortably, but Inoue piled on the pressure in the second round and hurt his opponent with a series of accurate shots. After a short left hand put Donaire on wobbly legs in the center of the ring early in the second round, Inoue finished him in the corner with a right-left combination that dropped Donaire to his back on the canvas.
