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Japan’s Naoya Inoue poses for a photograph during a press conference after beating Britain’s Paul Butler in his bantamweight title unification match in Tokyo on December 13, 2022. Yuichi Yamazaki, AFP

Japans Naoya Inoue poses for a photograph during a press conference after beating Britains Paul Butler in his bantamweight title unification match in Tokyo on December 13, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)

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Naoya Inoue

Agence France-Presse

<p>TOKYO (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) -- Japan&#x27;s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue said an early scare got him &quot;fired up&quot; after he stopped Mexico&#x27;s Luis Nery in the sixth round to defend his titles at the Tokyo Dome on Monday.</p><p>Around 43,000 fans packed into the famous venue for the first boxing match there since 42-1 underdog James &quot;Buster&quot; Douglas knocked out unbeaten heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in February 1990 in one of the sport&#x27;s biggest upsets.</p><p>Another seismic shock looked like it could be on the cards when Nery floored the unbeaten &quot;Monster&quot; Inoue in the first round with a huge left hand, with all four championship belts up for grabs.</p><p>But Inoue got up and knocked his opponent down in the following round, before sending him to the canvas again in the fifth and finishing him off with a right hook in the sixth.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1787459012994503055&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Anews-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2024-05-06T14%3A27%3A07.793248%3Af691633a-14d3-46ac-a281-462483d57dc3%26action%3Dview&amp;sessionId=2fdba06db4dc79692de236ed889ab69d8834fe43&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:753px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1787459012994503055"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>&quot;It was a great feeling to knock him down but how about that surprise in the first round?&quot; said the 31-year-old Inoue.</p><p>&quot;As a boxer, when that happens to you it fires you up. It gave me a lot of energy.&quot;</p><p>Inoue chuckled incredulously to himself as he sat down at the end of a stunning first round.</p><p>But the Japanese fighter gave a yell as he left his stool for the start of the second and was soon on level terms after dropping Nery with a well-timed left.</p><p>&quot;From the moment I went down, I was able to recover calmly,&quot; said Inoue.</p><p>&quot;I think it was precisely because I went down that I was able to fight the way I did.&quot;</p><p>Inoue gave yet another demonstration of his ferocious punching power as he picked Nery apart in the following rounds.</p><p>He downed his opponent with a juddering left hook in the fifth, then landed the finishing blow in the sixth to win by technical knock-out.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/26/23/inoue-stops-gutsy-tapales-to-unify-super-bantamweight-titles">READ: Inoue stops gutsy Tapales to unify super bantamweight titles</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/3/6/boxing-japan-s-inoue-to-face-nery-for-super-bantamweight-world-titles-1255">READ: Japan&#x27;s Inoue to face Nery for super-bantamweight world titles</a></div><div><strong>- Home pressure -</strong></div><p>Inoue took his record to 27-0 with 24 wins by KO, and said that his team would enter negotiations to fight Australian Sam Goodman in his next title defense, likely to be in September.</p><p>Inoue said the fight had been &quot;a great experience&quot;.</p><div><iframe id="twitter-widget-3" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-3&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1787466565652455856&amp;lang=en&amp;maxWidth=560px&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Anews-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2024-05-06T14%3A27%3A07.793248%3Af691633a-14d3-46ac-a281-462483d57dc3%26action%3Dview&amp;sessionId=2fdba06db4dc79692de236ed889ab69d8834fe43&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:560px;height:560px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1787466565652455856"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>&quot;Fighting at Tokyo Dome gave me a lot of power, but there was also pressure,&quot; he said.</p><p>It was Inoue&#x27;s first title defense since becoming the undisputed super-bantamweight world champion in December.</p><p>He is just the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004. American Terence Crawford was the first.</p><p>Nery, a former two-division world champion, was fighting in Japan for the first time since he was stripped of his bantamweight world title in 2018 after failing to make weight for a bout there.</p><p>He was subsequently banned from fighting in Japan but the country&#x27;s boxing commission gave him the green light to compete against Inoue.</p><p>Nery was booed when he was introduced to the Tokyo Dome crowd.</p><p>The 29-year-old&#x27;s record fell to 35-2, with 27 KOs.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;A real struggle&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Japan&#x27;s Yoshiki Takei beat Australian defending champion Jason Moloney by unanimous decision to win the WBO bantamweight world title on the undercard.</p><p>Takei, a former kickboxer who had won all eight of his previous boxing matches by knockout, started strongly before Moloney came back into the bout in his second title defense.</p><p>The 27-year-old Takei said the final round was &quot;a real struggle&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I wanted to win by knock-out but Moloney was really tough,&quot; he said.</p><p>Inoue&#x27;s younger brother Takuma defended his WBA bantamweight title with a unanimous decision win over fellow Japanese Sho Ishida.</p><p>Ishida floored Takuma Inoue in the first round with a left jab but the champion recovered to dominate the fight.</p><p>Japan&#x27;s Seigo Yuri Akui defended his WBA flyweight title with a unanimous decision win over countryman Taku Kuwahara.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" frameBorder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BZt-5_Ol_qw?&amp;t=9s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" width="640"></iframe></span></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Japan's undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue survived an early scare to stop Mexico's Luis Nery in the sixth round at the Tokyo Dome Monday and defend his titles.</p>

Japan's undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue survived an early scare to stop Mexico's Luis Nery in the sixth round at the Tokyo Dome Monday and defend his titles.

'Fired-up' Inoue stops Nery after early scare to defend titles

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'Fired-up' Inoue stops Nery after early scare to defend titles

Agence France-Presse

Published May 06, 2024 09:38 PM PHT

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Updated May 07, 2024 01:22 PM PHT

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Naoya Inoue

Luis Nery

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