Naoya Inoue and a furious knockout to “remove” Nonito Donaire and keep three belts from cocks

Oleksandr Usyk, Errol Spence, Terence Crawford. There are many men who are running as the best pound-for-pound boxer today after Saúl Canelo Álvarez’s defeat to Dmitry Bivol. In that list, in its own right, one can note Naoya Inoue, especially after the performance she held this Tuesday: she eliminated Nonito Donaire in the second round in Saitama and kept the titles of the bantamweight division of the World Boxing Council, of the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation.

The revenge of the bully that these two out of series had starred in 2019 and that had been left in the hands of the Japanese from the points was as explosive as that, albeit much shorter and unequal. The Monsterformer light and super flyweight champion (he snatched the World Boxing Organization title from Omar Narváez in 2014), imposed the power of his punches and resolved the fight after just 264 seconds of work.

Knowing the power of his rival (he had won 19 of his 22 fights before the limit), Donaire avoided crosses in the first half of the first round, although he received a couple of left hooks which set off the alarm. In the last segment of the lap, the venue accelerated and, with five seconds left, found an opening in the Filipino’s lower left hand and landed a powerful right that sent him to the ground.

Donaire managed to get to his feet and the bell gave him a minute to recover. But when he got back into action he encountered a tornado: the Japanese punished him with chilling precision and a force that demolished him. The desperate cries from the corner of Rachel, the Filipino’s wife and manager, served to paint the gloom of the scene.

The self-respect of a man whose destiny is the Boxing Hall of Fame allowed him to withstand a storm of impacts that carried him into the ring for nearly a minute. A short left left left Donaire staggeringwho despite everything continued to respond, but the end was only a matter of seconds.

A combination of two right straights and a left hook dropped the Filipino flash and referee Michael Griffin, judiciously, didn’t even start the count and ended the game.

Thus the undefeated Inoue, born 29 years ago in Zama, 35 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, handed Donaire his seventh defeat in 49 bouts, kept his WBA and IBF belts and added the WBC belt that belonged to his opponent. Before this presentation, he had announced it his goal was to become the undisputed 118-pound champion, so he only has one step left to reach it.

That step will be to face and defeat the WBO champion, the British Paolo Maggiordomowho on 22 April defeated Filipino Jonas Sultan in Liverpool, took the interim title and two weeks later was recognized as a regular champion after the corps took the crown from Filipino John Riel Casimero for failing to fight twice against the Butler.

For Donaire, a gentleman of the ring acclaimed before and after the duel by the crowds that filled the Saitama Super Arena, this may have been the last fight of his extraordinary career. In the press conference prior to the duel, the 39-year-old boxer also stressed that his goal was to wipe out this category. This Tuesday he had to be overwhelmed by the power of Inoue.

In any case, nothing will pierce the legacy of a boxer who has won nine titles in four categories in 21 years of professional career, who has starred in 22 fights for ecumenical titles and who has never refused a confrontation with the best in each of the divisions it militated