Naoya Inoue became the undisputed super bantamweight champion to retake the Pound for Pound crown over the festive period.
Already holding the WBC and WBO versions, “The Monster” knocked out Filipino IBF and WBA champion Marlon Tapales in ten rounds to recapture the number one spot.
Inoue had previously only held the title for days after beating Stephen Fulton last July. It was initially stated that Inoue’s achievement would block the winner of Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence from overtaking him.
However, such was the manner of Crawford’s victory, WBN had no choice but to give ‘Bud’ his props.
WBN even had the Fighter of the Year trophy ready for engraving after Crawford’s exceptional undisputed welterweight championship victory. That all changed when Inoue announced the Tapales fight.
Naoya Inoue is Pound for Pound Number One
Winning back-to-back undisputed crowns a year apart is a landmark that cannot be ignored. Inoue is now the hot favorite to take home the prize won by Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
On Boxing Day at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, the sport had no choice but to acknowledge a master at work.
Tapales, who won the unified world championship earlier this year, emerged as the aggressor. He attempted to slow Inoue down with a concerted body attack.
Inoue responded with savage body blows, sweeping the early rounds on the scorecards. Late in the fourth, a series of left hooks dropped Tapales, who rose just before the bell sounded to end the round.
Tapales found his rhythm in the middle rounds, backing Inoue up and ripping body shots in the seventh and eighth.
The Japanese superstar found his stride in the ninth and finished off Tapales in the tenth with a right hand that put him down for the count.
The new pound-for-pound king, who started his career at 108 pounds, added two more belts to his massive collection.
Undisputed
Inoue joins Crawford as the only two undisputed champions in the four-belt era to achieve the feat in two divisions. P4P number three Usyk can match that in February against Tyson Fury.
At 26-0, four-weight world champion Inoue is 21-0 with 19 knockouts in title fights. He has knocked out his last seven foes. Tapales drops to 37-4, 19 KOs, after his four-fight winning streak ends.
Following a game-changing triumph for the lower weight classes, Inoue said: “I am so happy that I got the knockout in such a decisive manner.
“He never showed me fatigue or damage from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the tenth round.
“It was probably one of the most intense fights I’ve ever had, but my corner cheered me up and kept me focused throughout the bout.”
