By definition, demons are expected to be cruel, scary, or evil monsters – not angelic-looking little Japanese men who don’t look strong enough to knock over a plate of sushi.
It’s very unlikely that Naoya Inoue is cruel or evil, but he certainly becomes scary once he steps into the boxing ring.
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Inoue, known globally as The Monster, has extraordinary strength, stands just 5ft 5in tall, weighs just under nine stone and has arms as wide as knitting needles.
He is one of three men to have become undisputed champion in two weight classes – the other two being Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk.
This places Inoue in the ranks of boxing’s all-time greats, whose name will forever be revered alongside ancient and modern legends such as Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
Inoue, who has won world titles in four weight classes, was defending his super-bantamweight belt against Australian Irishman TJ Doheny at Ariake Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday night.
Because Tokyo is eight hours ahead of London, the fight was shown live on Sky at lunchtime – it was certainly an unusual time of day, but a wonderful opportunity to witness nature’s unique sport.
Amazingly Inoue had won 26 of his 27 world championship bouts by knockout and the main interest was to see how long the 37 year old veteran Doheny, a former IBF champion, would last.
Watching Inoue work is a revelation – he’s fast, precise, doesn’t waste a single punch and every blow he lands seems to hurt the opposition.
His expressionless face never changes and right from the opening bell he has one goal – to finish off his opponents as quickly as possible.
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Doheny knew deep in his heart that he had no chance of winning, so he took a defensive survival course to protect his chin.
Inoue thought the only way to get him out of there quickly was to attack from below and began landing deadly blows to his body with both hands.
At the end of the sixth over, a pain-stricken Doheny looked as if he had aged ten years as he walked back to his corner.
Within seconds of the start of the seventh round, Inoue landed a devastating left hook below Doheny’s ribs – a punch that literally paralyzed his right side and forced him to retire from the fight.
It was business as usual for Inoue – although he would have liked a more spectacular finish with Doheny knocked out, he has now won all 28 of his fights, 25 of them by knockout.
His knockout ratio is over 90 percent – showing just how extraordinary this statistic is – Rocky Marciano had a knockout ratio of 87 percent, George Foreman 84 percent, Frank Bruno 84 percent and Mike Tyson 78 percent.
Inoue will make another defense in Tokyo before the end of this year and his promoter Bob Arum said he will feature him in Las Vegas in early 2025.
Read more at The Scottish Sun
Watching Inoue work is a revelation – he’s fast, precise, doesn’t waste a single punch and every blow he lands seems to hurt the opposition
Collin Hart
Naoya is rarely seen outside Japan, but those ringside at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro five years ago must have realised they were watching someone special when he won the IBF world bantamweight crown by beating Puerto Rican Emmanuel Rodriguez in just four minutes.
Inoue, 31, who is married to his childhood sweetheart and the father of three children, has proved that it is not necessary to wield a sword to be a samurai warrior.
