World champion WBC, WBA and IBF in the bantamweight (up to 53.5 kg) Naoya Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs) is aiming for the final unification of the division titles, but if this option is unattainable, he will go higher in categories without regrets. He stated this today at the post-match press conference, destroying Nonito Donaire (42-6, 28 KOs) in rematch.
Inoue defeated Donaire in 2019, but in the rematch he literally kneaded the 39-year-old Nonito: it was all over in the 2nd round. The 29-year-old Japanese spoke respectfully of the opponent and said that it “was like a dream” when he managed to quickly knock down the Filipino already in the 1st round.
“It is thanks to Donaire that I can be in the current positions, and I was able to win the third title already,” said Inoue. “He was a champion that I admired when I was still a schoolboy.”
It was too much. Inoue destroys Donaire in rematch – our report
“My next goal is to unify the bantamweight titles,” Inoue said. “I have come so far already, and there is only one step left. I’m in a good position now and I want to focus on unifying the titles.”
And although Naoya says that the fight with WBO champion Paul Butler (34-2, 15 KOs) is a priority goal, he is also interested in moving up to second bantamweight (up to 55.3 kg).
“If I can’t fight Butler next, I might have to fight someone ranked. I want to choose a good one. There are still many years ahead, so I want to take my time, but I want to slowly think about what I want to do, ”said the Japanese.
If you haven’t seen the fight, here’s a video of the knockout and highlights.
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