Boxing: Naoya Inoue repeats as unified world champion… now at super bantamweight

Naoya Inoue has done it again. If a year ago unific the four bantamweight belts on his person, now he has done the same in the supercock after knocking Filipino Marlon Tapales in the tenth assault in a fight that took place in Tokyo. A powerful right hand ended Tapalles’ resistance. The Japanese, who remains undefeated, raises his streak to 26 victories, 23 by KO and adds the WBA and IBF titles to his WBC and WBO world champion belts.

Inoue is the second boxer to unify four belts at two different weights. The first was the American Terence Crawford who, after achieving it at super lightweight in 2017, this summer He achieved it in the welterweight class by beating Errol Spence Jr by technical KO in the ninth round.

‘The Monster’, as Inoue is known, has won the four super bantamweight belts in six months. In July he joined the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) after beating Stephen Fulton by KO.. in the eighth round.

After his first five fights as a professional, On the sixth he won the light flyweight title of the World Boxing Council by knocking out the Mexican Adrin Hernández in 2014. That same year he also won the WBC super flyweight title by knocking out Omar Narvez.

After seven defenses, he moved up to bantamweight in 2018. In the first fight he was already proclaimed WBA world champion.. Four years later, in December 2022, it unified the four titles. Then he moved up to super bantamweight where he has now achieved the same.