By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)
“Monster” Inoue’s brother WBA bantamweight champ Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5 KOs), 117.75, impressively kept his belt as he beautifully scored a one-punch knockout over ex-IBF junior bantam ruler Jerwin Ancajas (34-4-2, 23 KOs), 117.75, at 0:44 of the ninth round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
It was Takuma’s best performance as he displayed his hand speed, quick reflexes and determination in infighting and stunned the crowd by an unexpected knockout victory. We knew Ancajas as a dangerous southpaw puncher, but Takuma dare to mix it up in the close quarter and dominated the processing with his faster hands. As the contest progressed, it became Takuma’s fight, whipping the Filipino veteran with good left hooks to the face and solid body shots to weaken and slow him down. It was early in round nine that Takuma boldly mixed it up and landed a vicious right uppercut to the midsection. Ancajas knelt down in pain to be unable to beat the count. Mark Nelson tolled the fatal ten to declare a fine knockout of the champion Takuma. His brother Naoya quickly climbed up to the ring and celebrated his brother’s spectacular knockout in his first defense.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
Inoue, and probably everyone else who fights Ancajas, probably owes Martinez a bit of credit for taking something out of him in their two fights, but I was still surprised that Inoue stopped him.
Maybe currently a golden age for Japanese boxing? By my count they now have NINE reigning male world champions, two of those are unified and one of those is undisputed and may be the best fighter in the world and the best Japanese fighter ever. They also have two active sure HOFers between Inoue and Ioka, four reigning women world champions — and one of those, Hiruta, might be special — and, in a few weeks, though I think he loses, Reiya Abe can make it TEN if he beats Venado. Boxing in Japan is flaming right now.
i agree with you maybe only time will tell
Japanese fighters are cracking mad balls in the division!
If everything lines up accordingly, there are two huge fights at the domestic level in Japan: Takuma Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani, and if Nakatani defeats Takuma, the mega showdown between Junto Nakatanis and Naoya Inoue will be at 122. Nakatani is a big bantamweight, even bigger than some top featherweights like Robeisi Ramirez and Alberto ‘venado” Lopez, so his days as a bantamweight are going to be short and it could be inevitable a dream fight against Inoue at 122.
Can you imagine?! Takuma – Nakatani is REALLY good stuff. Monster – Nakatani is off the charts.
What a stunning performance by Takuma Inoue! His victory over Jerwin Ancajas showcased his incredible hand speed, quick reflexes, and determination in infighting. Takuma’s ability to mix it up and dominate the close quarters was truly impressive, especially against a dangerous puncher like Ancajas. The knockout victory in the ninth round, with a vicious right uppercut to the midsection, was a testament to Takuma’s skill and strategy. Congratulations to Takuma Inoue on a spectacular defense of his WBA bantamweight title!
The LITTLE BIG MEN battles among Japanese fighters, Mexican fighters and Filipino fighters are wonderful to see.
Mexico built a solid system of boxing in various weight classes (especially at smaller weights), and at the smaller weight classes, Japan’s boxing system is catching Mexico very quickly. Unfortunately, I believe additional outreach efforts are required to rebuild a boxing system of Filipino fighters (for smaller weight classes).
I love watching them scrap for their families, for their dedicated fans and for their countries.