Naoya Inoue can now look forward to the super fights he has long craved.
The unbeaten three-division titlist successfully defended his WBA and IBF bantamweight titles following an eighth round knockout of Thailand’s Aran Dipaen. Inoue floored Dipaen midway through round eight, with a follow-up left hook forcing referee Michiaki Someya to immediately stop the fight Tuesday evening at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
Inoue (22-0, 19KOs) made his fifth overall defense of the IBF bantamweight title and fourth as a unified titlist. The fight was his first in Japan for Yokohama’s Inoue since his thrilling twelve-round win over Nonito Donaire in their November 2019 title unification bout in Saitama, Japan.
Inoue-Dipaen aired live on Pay-Per-View exclusively distributed by ABEMA TV.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox