By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
“Monster” Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs), 117.75, unified all the four belts of the bantamweight category when he patiently kept stalking the WBO titlist Paul Butler (34-3, 15 KOs), 118, and finally sank him with a flurry of punches at 1:09 of the eleventh round in a scheduled twelve in Tokyo, Japan. Some 15,000 sellout spectators were in attendance at Ariake Arena, newly constructed for the 2021 Olympic Games. Naoya, usually an early finisher, didn’t try to bring home the bacon early but steadily weakened the cautious counterpart from UK with his constant pressure on him. Inoue this time demonstrated his skills in jabbing with precision, averting a few but occasional punches from Butler and giving him a lesson of punching upstairs and downstairs. Having both hands down like Roy Jones Jr. to urge Butler to punch out of his peek-a-boo shell in round six, Inoue attempted to have the negative champ more aggressive, but in vain. Butler didn’t become more positive in trading punches with Inoue throughout the contest.
“For what did you come to Japan? Not to win over me and win the belts?” said Naoya, after his victory, on his interim impression of Butler’s strategy during the bout. Frustrated by Paul’s extremely defensive strategy, he was bewildered but decided to patiently take the initiative and open the way to finally demolish him in the end. Naoya kept jabbing to penetrate Paul’s tight guard, which had him nose-bleeding and had the face reddened. To the eyes of the huge crowd Butler looked more intimidated than cautious by Inoue’s superior power. Continue reading “Inoue-Butler Full Report & GIANT Photo Gallery”
By Joe Koizumi Photos by Naoki Fukuda “Monster” Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs), 117.75, unified all the four belts of the bantamweight category when he patiently kept stalking the WBO…
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