KNOCKOUT! Naoya Inoue comes off canvas to brutalize Luis Nery

Naoya Inoue got dropped, but dominated otherwise against Luis Nery.

Naoya Inoue found himself on the canvas for the first time in his pro career against Luis Nery, but stormed back to dominate in what wound up being business as usual.

Inoue was down in round one, but returned the favor in the second and fifth rounds before knocking Nery out to retain his undisputed super bantamweight championship in the sixth round.

Nery improves to 27-0 (24 KO) with the win, while Nery falls to 35-2 (27 KO) in defeat.

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Inoue, 31, also continues his run of proper greatness, a true all-timer and living legend, taking out another top challenger with relative ease, winning every round clearly other than the first before finding a brutal finish.

After the win, Inoue announced that he will return in September, and Sam Goodman was in the ring. Goodman (18-0, 8 KO) is a mandatory challenger for Inoue, and seems likely to be the next opponent.

On the undercard

• Yoshiki Takei won his first world title, taking the WBO bantamweight belt from Jason Moloney by unanimous decision. Scores were 116-111, 116-111, and 117-110. BLH had it 116-111 on our unofficial card. The 29-year-old Takei had to go the distance for the first time, improving to 9-0 (8 KO), but had the fight pretty well in control the entire way. Moloney (27-3, 19 KO) tried to veteran tactics his way through it, including high trunks that led to a lousy low blow deduction against Takei in round two, but he was never able to do consistent enough work to actually win the fight. The Aussie did pour it on heavy in the 12th and final round, but it was too little, too late.
• Takuma Inoue got past a first round knockdown to win a wide decision over Sho Ishida, retaining his WBA bantamweight title. Inoue (20-1, 5 KO) took scores of 116-111, 118-109, and 118-109. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored it 118-109 for Inoue.
• Seigo Yuri Akui retained his WBA flyweight title with a clean and clear win over Taku Kuwahara. Judges had it 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110 for Akui (20-2-1, 11 KO), who makes a successful first title defense after taking the belt from Artem Dalakian in February. Kuwahara falls to 13-2 (8 KO), with both of his losses coming to Akui, who also stopped him in the 10th round back in 2021 in a domestic title fight. That one was closer on the cards, with Akui barely ahead after nine rounds, but this one saw Akui as the clear better fighter, despite a strong effort from Kuwahara. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored it 118-110 for Akui.

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