SPORTS FACTS AND FIGURES 58: NAOYA INOUE DEFENDS UNDISPUTED SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE AGAINST LUIS NERY IN TOKYO ON MAY 6.
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 06 Mar 2024
Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed super bantamweight championship against Luis Nery on May 6 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Top Rank calls this “the biggest boxing event” in the history of Japan.
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“Naoya Inoue is the world’s best fighter, a young man who amazes me every time he steps in the ring. Luis Nery is a tough challenger, but I fully expect Inoue to get the job done in front of more than 50,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, whose company co-promotes Inoue along with Ohashi Promotions, as told to The Ring.
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Inoue nicknamed "The Monster" has a knockout ratio of 90.4% in world title matches, which is the highest KO rate in the history of world title fights. He is a four-division world champion, and became the only second male boxer, after Terence Crawford, to reign as the undisputed champion in two different weight classes in the four-belt era.
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He is the current, the first, and the only undisputed super bantamweight world champion, holding the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles and the WBA (Super), IBF, and Ring super bantamweight titles. He is also the former undisputed bantamweight world champion.
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He previously held the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title, the WBO super flyweight title and the WBC light flyweight title. He is the only Japanese fighter in history to be ranked No. 1 pound for pound by The Ring, and was named Fighter of the Year in 2023 by the ESPN, The Ring and Boxing Writers Association of America.
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Luis Nery is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC and Ring magazine bantamweight titles and the WBC super bantamweight title.
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Also fighting on the undercard is Inoue's younger brother Takuma. He just had a successful title defense against Jerwin Ancajas last month, Takuma will stake his WBA world bantamweight title this time against fellow Japanese Sho Ishida.
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The other featured title fights in a four-title fight card will see Jason Moloney defends his WBO world bantamweight title against Yoshiki Takei while WBA world flyweight champion Seigo Akui battles Taku Kuwahara.
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Sports History: March 6, 1976. In his 10th title defense, WBA light welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes of Colombia was defeated by the 17-year-old Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benítez in a 15-round split decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Benitez became the youngest ever world champion.
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