We see that Naoya Inoue is not perfect. And then we witnessed his greatness.
Luis Nery stunned Inoue and everyone watching when he floored Inoue with a perfect left hook in the opening round of their fight at the Tokyo Dome, site of Buster Douglas’ historic fight against Mike Tyson.
Will we see another shocking result there? Uh, no.
Inoue, his sublime talent on full display, rose from the knockdown to knock down his Mexican opponent three times before referee Michael Griffin stopped the fight at 1:22 of Round 6.
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Thus, Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) retained the undisputed 122-pound championship.
“That gave me motivation,” Inoue said of the knockout through a translator afterward.
Nery’s hook about a minute and a half into the fight – landing as Inoue’s right hand came down – truly rocked the champion, who had never been on the canvas in his decades-long career.
He got up quickly but went into defensive mode, perhaps a sign that he felt the weight of the blow. However, by the end of the round, he seemed to be at 100%.
Then there are fireworks. Inoue, carefully avoiding Nery’s left side then, proceeded to pick the slower, less skillful Nery both outside and inside until the Mexican challenger could fight no more.
Inoue knocked his opponent down with a short left hook as he rushed in recklessly in the second round, although Nery was not injured.
The champion scored a second knockdown with a similar punch in round 3. This time Nery seemed to truly feel Inoue’s power.
And, after taking a terrifying blow that kept him down for the next two-plus rounds, Nery was once again down from a right hand with his back against the ropes.
Griffin had no reason to count with Nery on the canvas. He’s done. Inoue had his 16th knockout in his last 17 fights.
It looks like undefeated contender Sam Goodman could be Inoue’s next opponent. The Australian, Inoue’s mandatory challenger, was in the ring after the fight and called out the champion.
“Look, I’ve been under compulsion for over a year now. Either give up the belt or fight me. Let’s get started,” said Goodman.
Inoue said he will open negotiations with Goodman about a September fight.
