Fighter of the Month: Naoya Inoue continues to fight like a 'Monster'

Can anybody compete with Naoya Inoue? The reply to that query seems to be “no.”

Marlon Tapales gave the gifted Japanese star extra resistance than most of his opponents however he suffered the identical destiny as all however three of them, getting knocked out by his fellow unified 122-pound titleholder within the tenth spherical on Dec. 26 in Tokyo.

Inoue made historical past within the course of. He turned solely the second boxer within the four-belt period to win all the main titles in a second division. Terence Crawford was the primary to take action.

And Inoue continued to construct a case that he’s one of the best fighter on the earth, though he sits at No. 2 behind Crawford on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound record.

Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) managed the struggle from starting to finish however took extra punches than he usually does and had problem breaking down the resilient Tapales (37-4, 19 KOs).

The Filipino southpaw went down below a collection of laborious punches to the pinnacle and physique in Spherical 4, which gave the impression to be the start of the tip. Nevertheless, he survived that adversity to do his greatest work in Rounds 7 and eight.

Tapales discovered a approach to land counter punches extra persistently than he had earlier within the struggle and took all the things Inoue threw at him in these rounds.

Nevertheless, his rally (if that’s what it was) didn’t final lengthy. Inoue, who remained persistent all through, gave discover that he needed one other early evening by hurting Tapales with a mix of energy punches late in Spherical 9.

The tip got here within the following spherical. Naoya break up Tapales’ guard with a straight proper hand that pressured his opponent to his knees after which all fours. And he wasn’t in a position to rise up, making him “The Monster’s” seventh consecutive knockout sufferer.

That made him a straightforward alternative for Boxing Junkie Fighter of the Month.

And he doesn’t look like slowing down at 30 years previous. Now we have a sense that many extra accolades — maybe No. 1 pound-for-pound? — will come his approach earlier than all is alleged and executed.