Naoya Inoue put on another monster performance Tuesday night in Tokyo.
While it was an ending fight fans longed for, it was still a dominant showing by the Japanese pound-for-pound star.
While it took him several rounds to take out TJ Doheny, Inoue still got the job done with full force.
Fighting from a distance and occasionally throwing crisp combos, Doheny simply stood no chance against the rampaging undisputed world super-bantamweight titlist.
Inoue was just too strong and too good for the 37-year-old Irishman, who was stopped after injuring his back.
Inoue, of course, didn’t hit him there.
But it was the accumulation of forceful body blows that caused it.
Another factor could be Doheny’s overly-cautious ways. So focused on evading Inoue’s punches, Doheny may have taken the wrong turn while trying to avoid the potentially devastating blows, forcing his back to give in.
So, what’s next for the “Monster?”
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum immediately revealed his plans for boxing’s most exciting puncher starting with another defense of the four titles against Sam Goodman in December.
Then, Inoue is going to be back on American soil in 2025, possibly in April on the same night he and the second-best Japanese fighter nowadays — bantamweight boss Junto Nakatani — face off separate challengers.
If they follow the script, Inoue and Nakatani are on their way to a collision course at the Tokyo Dome.
If Inoue wins, he will head to the featherweight ranks in the hopes of winning a fifth world title in a fifth weight class.
And if Nakatani wins, he might stay for a while to defend and head up north, too.
As I have said many times before, there’s this one guy who could mess up Arum’s plans.
That’s John Riel Casimero.
But given his status, it doesn’t look as if he is being mentioned as a possible foe.
If only he didn’t part ways with MP Promotions, he should have probably been the current toast of boxing.
In the meantime, let’s just enjoy watching the “Monster” at work.
In my book, he is boxing’s No. 1 fighter regardless of weight.