September 4th, 2016. Naoya Inoue (井上尚弥) aka “Monster” takes on Thai challenger Karoon Jarupianlerd in the 3rd defense of his WBO World Super Flyweight Title, which he won back in December 2014 with a KO2 over Omar Narveaz.
Prefight records; Inoue 10(8)-0, Jarupianlerd 38(18)-7-1.
This was Jarupianlerd’s 1st crack at a world title and his 6th pro fight in Japan.
Going into the fight, Inoue was World Champion both at 108 & 115 pounds with wins over notable opponents in Adrian Hernandez, Omar Narvaez, David Carmona & Ryoichi Taguchi.
For nearly 30 minutes, the destructive Inoue landed thudding body & head blows to the courageous Thai challenger who ultimately succumbed in the 10th frame after an accumulation of non stop punishment from one of the sport’s hardest punchers today.
Jarupianlerd displayed tremendous toughness & even had a couple of good moments himself. As a whole, he put up a valiant effort despite being mostly overpowered.
He is also one of the few Inoue opponents who made it past the 2nd half of a bout.
Between December 2016 & 2017, Inoue made 4 more successful defenses of his WBO Crown; all via knockouts over Kohei Kono, Ricardo Rodriguez, Antonio Nieves & Yoan Boyeaux.
In May 2018, Inoue became a Triple Crown World Champion via destruction of the tough Jamie McDonnell in less than 2 minutes to snatch his WBA (Regular) Bantamweight Title.
As of August 2018, Inoue had won world titles at 108, 115 & 118 pounds.
Naoya Inoue will be participating in the World Boxing Super Series which will take place between September 2018 and May 2019. His 1st round opponent will be the reigning IBF Bantamweight World Champion, Emmanuel Rodríguez.
The other 6 participants are Ryan Burnett, Jason Moloney, Mikhail Aloyan, Zolani Tete, Nonito Donaire & Juan Carlos Payano.
“The Monster” is one of highly favored participants to triumph in the Finals. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments.