Naoya “Monster” Inoue easily retained his undisputed world super-bantamweight title with a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan on Sunday night at the IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan.
Inoue was quite gun-shy in the first two rounds, became aggressive later and began showboating as Akhmadaliev could not keep up with his Japanese rival’s lateral movement and hand speed.
“You saw tonight how Inoue has become a complete fighter,” Inoue’s Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said after the fight.
“This is the greatest fighter in the world,” added Arum of his prized ward as the crowd cheered.
The judges scorecards read: 118-110 (twice) and 117-111.
His next fight will likely be against Allan Picasso of Mexico in late-December in Riyadh and possibly versus fellow Japanese Junto Nakatani, the bantamweight titlist, in May 2026 at the Tokyo Dome.
In becoming the undisputed champion, Inoue stopped Marlon Tapales of the Philippines at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo in December 2023.
Tapales was Inoue’s fourth Filipino victim in a world title fight after Warlito Parrenas, Nonito Donaire and Michael Dasmarinas.
Inoue beat Donaire twice, first on a close decision in 2019 at the Saitama Super Arena and the second via a savage second-round knockout also at the same venue in 2022.