Lucas Jones
If undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue really was the best pound-for-pound in boxing, Luis Nery was keen to make him prove it on Monday morning.
Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) was forced to his feet from the canvas in the first round after being dropped for the first time in his 27-fight professional career. But “The Monster” rallied to score a trio of thrilling knockdowns en route to a sixth-round submission of Nery (35-2, 27 KOs), a former two-division champion, in his 122-pound title fight in Tokyo .
The fight, held in front of more than 40,000 fans inside the Tokyo Dome, marked the venue’s first major boxing event since James “Buster” Douglas defeated Mike Tyson in 1990.
The victory only added to Inoue’s growing (and increasingly legendary) tradition. After winning his first world title in just his sixth professional fight, 31-year-old Inoue has won titles in four weight classes, including achieving the undisputed status of four belts in two separate divisions.
Inoue was forced to show his greatness in P4P due to the bold combination of Nery’s courage and punching power.
“This is the first Tokyo Dome boxing event in 34 years,” Inoue said, through a translator. “I’m so happy to be here. Thank you everyone!”
Inoue looked relieved and almost grateful as he recalled the first-round knockdown that nearly cost him his unbeaten first-round record, when Inoue made an uncharacteristic technical error by retreating with his hands down. A left hook from Nery suddenly put Inoue on the brink of danger.
“A big surprise happened in the first round. I’m so grateful this happened,” Inoue said. “It actually gave me good motivation. I’m very grateful to have fought against Luis Nery today at the Tokyo Dome.
“I don’t remember anything my father said to me during the break [after Round 1] but it gave me motivation and I stayed very focused until the end of the fight.”
When asked to detail how he was able to regain his balance so quickly by rallying to score a strategic knockdown in Round 2 when Inoue caught Nery overextending and landed a perfectly short left hook to even things up on the scoreboard, Inoue reiterated how much this was done by instinct.
“I keep saying I don’t remember anything very well,” Inoue said.
Inoue outscored the 29-year-old Nery by a 21-4 margin in the first round, according to CompuBox, and nearly doubled Nery in total punches thrown (107 to 54) en route to landing an incredible 49% of his shots. strength.
Although Nery remained dangerous until the end, Inoue began to systematically break him down to the body. In the fifth round, with his back to the ropes, Inoue uncorked another incredibly short left hook to knock Nery down for the second time.
Inoue submitted Nery in round 6 after cornering him and landing a perfect counter right hand. Nery fell to the canvas when referee Michael Griffin called off the fight at 1:22 of the round.
Nery had already been banned from fighting on Japanese soil and needed to receive special authorization to compete in the event.
The issue dates back to Nery’s knockout of Shinsuke Yamanaka in a 2017 bantamweight title fight, during a fight in which Nery tested positive for banned substances. Nery seriously missed weight before the 2018 rematch, which also took place in Japan, and had his license suspended after finishing in the second round.
Following his win on Monday, Inoue welcomed undefeated mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (18-0, 8 KOs) into the ring and hyped a future showdown against the Australia native.
