TOKYO — It had been more than 34 years since the Tokyo Dome hosted a boxing event. Naoya “Monster” Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), boxing’s pound-for-pound king, made it worth the wait. Inoue scored a sixth-round TKO over Mexican former two-division world champion Luis Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) in front a packed house Monday evening to defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship.
This marked the 22nd world title victory for Inoue, who recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of winning his first world title.
“Inoue is among the greatest fighters I’ve promoted, and he was sensational once again. Nery came to win, but ‘The Monster’ was too much,” said Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum.
Inoue was floored early by a counter left hand in the opening stanza as he closed in on Nery. The 31-year-old returned the favor in the following round by sending Nery to the canvas with a counter left hook. Inoue then began breaking Nery down during the ensuing rounds before dropping him again with a left hook in the fifth. In the sixth, the pound-four-pound great landed consecutive right hands to end the fight at 1:22.
Inoue said, “I appreciate Nery. That’s why I shook hands with him after the…
