How scary is the monster?

How scary is the monster?

By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 01 Nov 2020

WBA / IBF super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue was beaten by Nonito Donaire, Jr. in their unification showdown in Saitama last November, but still walked away with his record intact. The Japanese fighter known as The Monster suffered a fracture to his right orbital bone, a broken nose and a cut over his right eye that required five stitches to close. To his credit, Inoue fought bravely until the end of the 12-round contest despite bleeding from the cut at the beginning of the second verse and from his nose at the beginning of the third.

Inoue dropped Donaire with a body shot in the 11th round to seal the victory by unanimous decision. If it weren’t for the fall, Inoue would have won by a majority verdict, a consolation for Donaire, who stood firm from start to finish. The scorecards of the three judges were 117-109, 116-111 and 114-113. For his efforts, Donaire has been rewarded with a shot at the WBC crown held by Frenchman Nordine Oubaali in Uncasville, Connecticut on December 12.

Inoue, 27, will make his Top Rank debut against Australian Jason Moloney at MGM Grand Bubble, Las Vegas, this morning (Manila time). Have you fully recovered from your injuries? Inoue never had repair surgery, and decided to let the wounds heal on their own. How fragile is it without going through surgery? Will your aggressive style be tempered by Donaire’s war scars?

Regardless of Inoue’s state of mind and body, the 29-year-old Moloney should be easy prey for The Monster. He is 21-1, with 18 KOs, and his only loss was a split decision in 2018 to Emmanuel Rodríguez of Puerto Rico, whom Inoue dispatched in two rounds a year later. Since the loss to Rodriguez, Moloney has won four in a row, all within range and one of his victims was Filipino Cris Paulino. In total, Moloney has victimized nine Filipinos —- Paulino (KO5), Lolito Sonsona W10), Marco Demecillo (W8), Gerpaul Valero (KO7), Jeffrey Francisco (W6), Virden Rivera (KO3), Markquil Salvana ( KO5)), Danilo Garibay (KO5) and Alvin Bais (KO3).

Under the terms of his contract with Top Rank, Inoue was supposed to fight three times in the US this year, but due to the pandemic, he will settle for just one against Moloney. He was fined for facing WBO bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero in Las Vegas last April, but he never made it. Inoue’s excuse was the travel restrictions. Casimero ended up fighting Duke Micah in Connecticut and knocked out the Ghanaian in style last September. Inoue arrived in Las Vegas two weeks ago to keep her date with Moloney, who also has a contract with Top Rank.

Inoue’s record is 19-0, with 16 KOs. But Casimero is not impressed. After demolishing Micah, Casimero called Inoue and renamed him The Japanese Turtle for hiding from him. Inoue said the other day that she will take care of Casimero after firing Moloney. Casimero said he is not interested in seeing Inoue fight Moloney because he knows what will happen. He doesn’t expect Moloney to push Inoue over the edge like Donaire. Casimero, however, might want to see how much scare the Monster is left with after sustaining the wounds Donaire inflicted on him.

Click here for a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.