Kyodo News

Naoya Inoue Is #1

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Robert LaMar | Last updated 5/10/24

Naoya Inoue has overtaken Terrance Crawford for the #1 spot overall for Ring Magazine. Inoue knocked down Luis Nery three times and finished him in Round 6 for a KO victory to retain his undisputed junior featherweight championship on Monday in Tokyo.

The Monster once again stands above them all @NaoyaInoue_410 pic.twitter.com/112aPLWSJm

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 10, 2024

Dominate performance that pushed him to the top

Despite the dominate win, Inoue suffered the first knockdown of his illustrious career in the opening round. From that point on things got really difficult for Nery. That was all the wake up call that Nery needed. The following round, Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), 31, returned the favor with a counter left hook, the fifth knockdown of Nery’s career.

“How did you like that big surprise in the first round?” Inoue asked the crowd in Japanese after the fight. ” That gave me motivation and I was so focused until the end of the fight.”

There were over 44,000 fans on in the stadium for the first boxing event at the famed Tokyo Dome since the Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas heavyweight title shocker in February 1990.

New Ring Magazine pound-for-pound rankings released, Naoya Inoue as the new pound for pound king. pic.twitter.com/i0ddVyY770

— Source of Boxing (@Sourceofboxing) May 10, 2024