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The last time boxing fans saw shocking puncher Naoya “Monster” Inoue in the ring, the Japanese man was locked in the toughest fight of his career against Filipino Nonito Donaire Jr.
Inoue was supposed to run over Donaire with the tenacity of a bowling ball smashing hapless pins, but she did 12 hard rounds with him instead. Inoue won by unanimous decision, but went home with a broken nose and fractures to the right eye socket. And, oh, Inoue got hurt by Donaire’s right hand in the ninth stanza. Inoue was victorious, but worked doubly hard to get it.
Some 11 months after the war with Donaire, WBA (super) and IBF bantamweight champion (118 pounds) Inoue is booked to return to action this weekend when he takes on Australian challenger Jason Moloney. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Inoue fought in California three years ago, but the fight in Las Vegas marks his debut on boxing’s biggest stage.
Inoue, 27 (19-0, 16 knockouts) was originally scheduled to face his WBO counterpart Johnriel Casimero in April, but the fight was called off due to the coronavirus outbreak. Surprisingly, when the professional boxing cards resumed in the US in June, Inoue changed course and chose Moloney. Inoue’s camp cited visa issues, but Casimero claimed that the Monster simply cowed in their duel.
As you can deduce, Inoue looks to send her critics singing with the birds this weekend. The Moloney fight is crucial as Inoue wants to show that the Donaire fight was just an aberration and her confidence remains intact.
Before the Donaire fight, Inoue was virtually untouchable. He turned pro in 2012 and won titles in the junior flyweight (108 pounds), junior bantamweight (115 pounds) and bantamweight divisions. Inoue left a path of destruction along the way, thus earning the nickname “Monster”. However, as mentioned above, this was until Donaire exposed Inoue as a mortal.
The prognosis is that Inoue will get the job done and come back strong against Moloney (21-1, 18 knockouts).
Moloney, 29, started boxing at 13 to get fit for Australian football. However, he fell in love with boxing and ended up dedicating it full time along with his twin brother Andrew.
Jason debuted in August 2014 and was undefeated in his first 17 fights before losing a close split decision to Emmanuel Rodriguez in October 2018 in a battle for the IBF bantamweight crown.
Rodriguez dominated the first seven rounds of the fight and looked on course for an easy victory when Moloney made a resounding comeback in the final five rounds. Rodriguez walked away with a decision win, but could barely hold out in the final round. If there were still a few rounds left, Moloney would have beaten Rodriguez.
Interestingly, the Moloney-Rodriguez fight took place in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight unification tournament, where Inoue also participated. The Moloney-Inoue would have happened earlier if Moloney had beaten Rodriguez. It was Rodríguez who advanced to the next round and Inoue dutifully crushed the Puerto Rican in two rounds in May 2019. In a paralyzing display of power, Inoue knocked down Rodríguez three times in the second round.
Moloney has earned his last four rights, all by knockout, but offers a tailor-made style for Inoue. You don’t need a radar to find Moloney’s chin. Moloney is a pressure fighter who likes to get in and out of enemies. This is Inoue’s preferred style as she can easily salute an incoming enemy with her vicious straight right. With Moloney closing in on him, Moloney also doesn’t have to go that far to unleash his debilitating body shots.
Inoue is clearly the smart money bet and many few believe that a compelling, if not overwhelming, victory is at hand. If Inoue delivers impressively, expect the media to bombard him again with questions about Casimero. Inoue has been relatively quiet about Casimero’s taunting, but an impressive knockout from Moloney gets the Monster talking about Casimero. There really is no other way forward for Inoue than to face Casimero if he goes to Moloney.
Inoue’s plan is clear: prove he’s still the Monster of division by reducing Moloney to nonsense and then tackling the pesky problem that Casimero is.
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