Welcome back fight fans to another video here on The Fight Game.
In this video we look to Asia, to the man they call The Monster, the Japanese
destroyer, Naoya Inoue.
At 27 years old he is just beginning his prime, he is undefeated with 19 wins, 16 coming by
way of knockout.
He is also a three weight division world champion.
He's in the lighter weight division of 118 pounds.
He began boxing at 6 years old when his father Shingo Inoue taught him
footwork.
6 Months later his father gave him boxing gloves, and Inoue trained every day after
school, sacrificing his social life for the sweet science.
When fans think of Japanese boxing, they now think of Inoue.
He's often been described to have both speed and power with incredible mental strength.
I think we all know another boxer from Asia who fits
the very same description.
He is likely the best boxer we've seen from Japan since Fighting Harada.
The best boxers we've seen come out of Japan are often
in the really light weight divisions.
But as far as Japanese boxers go, it's been decades since a man like
Inoue has come onto the scene.
He has a strong attitude towards boxing, he stays in shape between fights which will provide
great longevity to his career, he's a ferocious boxer, he's able
to fight in many different styles, he has captivated the world of boxing with his insane
power, but make no mistake Inoue's power does not come without excellent
footwork and boxing capabilities.
From head to toe Inoue's fundamentals would seem to be implemented by a
perfectionist.
His technique is efficient but also effective, every punch thrown is thrown with a violent
snap.
All of this in conjunction with determination and will power has manifested the unprecedented
results we see from him in the ring today.
Welcome to this video here on The Fight Game, where we take a look
at times where Naoya Inoue has been an absolute Monster.
There is no better place to start than the professional debut, of which he made when
he was 19 years old.
Japanese viewers saw Inoue land a straight right hand to the body
in the first round to drop his opponent.
Inoue showed a great jab, sturdy footwork and high out-put of punches.
The fourth round saw Inoue plant his feet to land a hard
left hook to the body to end the fight.
The bodyshot was executed with perfect technique, adding lots of wonder to the Japanese fans
on how good this fighter really could be.
The following fights saw Inoue dominate his opponents with high-paced attacks and high-level
precision.
Inoue won his fights in such a dominant fashion that the idea
of him fighting for a world title soon was not out of the question.
His respectful humbleness was also appreciated by Japanese fans who were quick to support
him.
Inoue fought Adrien Hernandez for his first world title in his sixth professional bout.
The weight was at light-flyweight, which is 108 pounds, the third lightest weight
division in boxing.
Inoue showed great ring generalship, when unleashing attacks he was sure to vary the
heights from the body to the head.
In the 6th round Inoue dropped him with a right hand over the top
of his guard.
Hernandez was not fit to continue and Inoue won his first world title.
Inoue would go on to defend his newly acclaimed world title.
He beat down his opponent over the course of most of the fight.
He looked rather unstoppable in this fight, at times
deciding to box but then to explode in sinister nature with fast ruthless combinations.
I think the special thing about Inoue is that he holds both power and speed, and
when you combine those two qualities you get punches that have a real thudding explosive
effect.
Inoue was too much for his opponent and the fight was stopped before any more unnecessary
punishment was taken.
After defending his belt successfully, which is something that's greatly respected in the
boxing world, he decided to move up in weight to the super-flyweight division of 115 pounds
to contest for an additional world title.
Inoue's massive power surfaced in the first 30 seconds of the fight when he landed a hard
looping right hand, then followed up with another.
The first shot did all the damage and it was the second shot that simply toppled his opponent
who had been hurt.
Round 2 saw Inoue land a brutal left hook to the liver to finish the
fight.
If you haven't noticed already, Inoue seems to hurt his opponent initially to the head,
but then he likes to go downstairs to finish his opponents off with body punching.
Inoue had became a two-weight world champion in only his 8th fight.
Keep in mind that these opponents are not journeymen, they are world champions.
Inoue would stay at super-flyweight for quite some time as he defended his title.
As time continued, Inoue of course improved.
He fought boxers shorter and taller than him, while
seeming to have little trouble in dealing with them.
Also take notice of how Inoue is very grounded with his feet and legs when he throws his
punches.
With the insane power he can generate by doing this he's able to quite
literally punch through his opponents guard and drop them without even hitting their face.
Inoue can stand and trade shots too, having a good defense when stationary can be something
you rely on when pressure gets high in a fight.
He also uses a really good trick when in the pocket where he drags his opponents
hand down and lets go of a hook.
A key quality of Inoue is his remarkable conditioning.
When he gets in a tough fight he can rely on
the work he's done in the gym to overcome his opponent.
This wouldn't be possible without the insanely hard and intense training he does.
Inoue, having obliterated every opponent he faced in his world title reign, felt the need
to move up another weight division to the bantamweight division of 118 pounds.
He took on Jamie McDonnell for another world title.
In round 1 Inoue bulldozed his opponent to the ground, then pushed his opponent to the
ropes landing consecutive blows, dropping McDonnell
and winning the bantamweight title to become a 3-weight division world champion.
Having become a 3-weight division world champion, Inoue was presented with the opportunity to
take part in the world boxing super series.
The tournament was contested at the 118-pound level and it was the perfect platform
for Inoue to perform his skills to a worldwide audience.
The fight started with both boxers taking center stage.
Both fighters looking for openings, not much happening.
Then his opponent attacks but Ionue's superior footwork got him out of trouble, then he stopped
and landed a great uppercut.
A few seconds later Inoue got inside his opponents stance then dropped him with a hard 1-2.
An incredible first round knockout.
The knockout blow was landed in a dangerous position for
Inoue, with his lead leg inside his opponents lead leg, however Ionue quickly took advantage
of the positioning by turning his upperbody into the right hand
shot, knocking his opponent out.
Inoue showed the world that he has really strong one-punch power in only 70 seconds.
Next up we've got the semi-final of that same tournament, when he took on Emmanual Rodriguez.
The fight started with Inoue on the back foot, he got caught with
a few shots but then landed a clean right, then showed great defense.
Building on that he then continued with another flurry of punches.
Inoue on the ropes then again showed some really slick head movement.
The first round saw both fighters land clean, but with Inoue landing the sharper more eye-catching
punches.
The second round saw Inoue land an incredible 3 punch attack to fly his opponent's head
back.
Shortly after Inoue knocked his opponent down with a massive
left hook.
His opponent got back up, but Inoue was sure to drop him again with a lethal body shot.
His opponent returned to his feet, but Inoue dropped him a
third consecutive time with another left hook to the liver.
A sensational 2nd-round knockout for Naoya Inoue.
No wonder they call him the monster.
We fast forward to the final, where he took on Nonito Donaire, an incredibly experienced
4-weight world champion veteran from the Philippines.
This was a great fight, it was the craftiness of a legend versus
the strength and power of a young monster.
While before Inoue had appeared to be a Monster in an aggressive
procedure, in this fight we saw him dig deep and stand toe-to-toe with a man of much more
experience than himself.
Other than of course his knockout power, Inoue's jab is one of his most utilized weapons in
the ring, and sometimes an overlooked aspect by most viewers.
His jab dictates the pace of the fight and keeps him in
charge of when the action happens.
Inoue is an alert boxer, he's always aware of what his opponent is doing, and he collects
this data by probing and inspecting with his jab.
While sure Inoue showed great skill in the Donaire fight, he also showed great grit an
determination, his combinations were let go with mean intention,
a quality we don't see in most fighters today.
We've seen Inoue perform great against most opponents, but many wondered how he'd react
if he was dragged into deep waters, Inoue showed that he's able to swim
in such waters by taking hard shots from Donaire, remaining game and displaying a warrior heart.
Inoue doesn't just want to win the fight, he wants to knock his opponents out, which
of course is always welcomed by the fans.
Inoue, after a long hard-fought bout, won the fight by decision and won the world
boxing super series tournament.
Naoya Inoue is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing today, he has accomplished so much
already at such a young age and it's exciting to think about what he's yet
to achieve.
Inoue has proven that he's got natural power, we know he's a good boxer, but we've yet to
find out if he's a great boxer.
That brings a close to this video, thanks for watching.
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We'll see you in the next video here on The Fight Game.