SPORTS SHORTS 149: NAOYA INOUE IS BACK IN THE UNITED STATES, MICHAEL DASMARIÑAS IS UNFAZED
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 13 Jun 2021
Naoya "The Monster" Inoue is back for his third fight in the United States to show again his monstrosity in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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He fought his first 13 pro fights in Japan before stopping Antonio Nieves of Cleveland, Ohio in the 6th round on September 9, 2017 at the Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California to defend his WBO junior bantamweight title.
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He returned to the United States for his 20th fight to stop Australian Jason Moloney by KO in the 7th round on October 31, 2020 at the MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada for the WBA (Super), IBF and The Ring bantamweight titles.
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Filipino challenger Michael Dasmariñas, however, is undaunted by the unbeaten and knockout specialist Inoue and is hoping to put up a better and surprising challenge on Saturday, June 19 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
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Dasmariñas arrived in Los Angeles, California on May 31 and is training religiously under trainer Tacy Macalos at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. He is scheduled to travel to Las Vegas on the week of the fight and challenge Inoue for the unified WBA and IBF bantamweight titles.
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In a press conference in Tokyo before he left, Inoue cited his target of boosting his fight execution against Moloney. "I'm in perfect condition and hope to show my best performance to the world," Inoue was quoted by fightnews.com.
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Inoue is a three-division world champion, has beaten all of his 20 opponents so far, 17 by way of knockout for a high 85% KO rate.
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His promoter Hideyuki Ohashi is encouraging Inoue to knock Dasmariñas out earlier to uplift his pound-for-pound rankings and gain world prominence for better purse.
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Due to his extra ordinary credentials, Inoue has been labeled as a huge favorite over Dasmariñas, getting 95% of the betting only 3% of the bettors go for Dasmariñas.
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Dasmariñas (30-2-1, 20 KOs) will be fighting for the first time in the United States. He fought internationally in Singapore and China and the farthest place he has fought was South Africa.
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He lost to local favorite Lwandile Sityatha by a controversial split decision on December 13, 2014 at East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa for the IBO superflyweight title.
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Dasmariñas last fought against Artid Bamrungauea of Thailand on October 26, 2019, winning by a technical knockout in the fifth round in Valenzuela City.
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Mike Tyson thinks Floyd Mayweather should still fight in the ring and face a rematch with Manny Pacquiao. The 44-year-old Mayweather retired four years ago, and fought an eight-round exhibition bout with a YouTube star Logan Paul in Miami last Sunday.
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During that fight Mayweather, a natural welterweight, weighed 155 lbs. and Paul weighed 189.5 lbs. with a difference of almost 35 lbs. "I think Floyd should keep on trying. I don’t think he should fight a cruiserweight,” Tyson told FightHype.
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He thought Paul was able to hurt Mayweather because of his weight advantage. "I believe when he [Logan] was hitting him, he was hurting him a little bit because he’s not a 160-pound guy."
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He advised Floyd to fight foes who are of the same weight category. "I think that’s a heavyweight. 190 pounds to me is a heavyweight. I think he can learn from this one and fight guys more in his category as far as weight is concerned."
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Tyson said Mayweather will earn more if he goes up the ring to face Pacquiao again. "I think he’d make more money if he fought Pacquiao again," said Tyson.
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The top-seeded Utah Jazz was defeated by the fourth-seeded LA Clippers on Saturday 132-106 in Game 3. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George led the Clippers, as both stars broke the 30-point mark in the playoffs for the second time in their careers as teammates. Leonard scored 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
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Donovan Mitchell had a team-high 30 points for the Jazz, his 14th career 30-point game in just 30 postseason contests, but exited midway through the fourth quarter after aggravating an ankle injury. George finished with 31 points and five assists and hitting 6-for-10 from 3-point territory for the Clippers.
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Al Panlilio, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) first vice president, is positive that the Philippines will finally win its first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo next month. So far, 10 Filipinos have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
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They are Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo, middleweight boxer Eumir Marcial, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, Asian Games skateboarding gold medalist Margielyn Didal, rower Cris Nievarez, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa and three other boxers Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno and Carlo Paalam.
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“We’re hoping at least one. If we can have more than one that would be great,” Panlilo said Friday. Fil-Japanese golfer Yuka Saso, who recently won a historic US Women’s Open, is expected to be added to the list of Philippine Olympians.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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