MANILA, Philippines – Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue wasted little time in disposing Nonito Donaire Jr., knocking out the Filipino-American fighter in the second round to add the latter’s WBC bantamweight title to his IBF and WBA belts in their unification bout at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Tuesday.
The unbeaten Inoue dropped Donaire with a short right hand to the temple in the closing seconds of the opening round, then finished off his foe halfway through the second canto for the impressive knockout victory.
The end came at the 1:24 mark of the second round, after Inoue floored Donaire with a huge left hook to the head for the second and last time. The latter got up, but the referee did not bother to count and instead just waved the fight off.
Prior to that finishing blow, the fighter aptly called "The Monster" buckled Donaire’s knees with the same punch.
The 29-year-old Inoue improved to 23-0 (19 KOs) while Donaire — who at 39 years old could contemplate retirement — fell to 42-7 (28 KOs).
The two fighters first met in a Fight of the Year winner in 2019, which Inoue topped by unanimous decision.