“Monster” Naoya Inoue of Japan on Tuesday successfully defended his WBO junior bantamweight title, flooring Philippine challenger Warlito Parrenas with a quick knockout.
The bout marked a return to the ring for Inoue (9-0, 8 knockouts), who missed most of this year after injuring his right hand in beating Omar Narvaez of Argentina a year ago for the title.
The boxing wonderboy released fast and heavy punches, which put 32-year-old Parrenas (24-7-1, 21 knockouts) on the canvas quickly in the second round. Inoue then followed up with killer left-hand blows that had the Philippine fighter on his knees.
Photo: AP
Inoue grabbed the WBO crown last year, dethroning Narvaez who had defended the belt for 12 years with a second-round knockout.
The unbeaten 22-year-old previously captured the WBC light flyweight title in April last year and defended it six months later in September.
Tuesday’s bout was part of a double-header that also featured Japanese challenger Akira Yaegashi (23-5, 12 knockouts) grabbing the IBF world light flyweight title by beating Mexican Javier Mendoza (24-3-1, 19 knockouts).
Photo: AP
Judges awarded the bout to Yaegashi by scores of 117-111, 119-109 and 120-107.
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