Japan's 'Monster' Inoue defends WBO title

"Monster" Naoya Inoue of Japan on Tuesday successfully defended his World Boxing Organization junior bantamweight title, flooring Philippine challenger Warlito Parrenas with a quick knockout.

The bout marked a return to the ring for Inoue (9-0, 8 knockouts), who missed most of this year after injuring his right hand in beating Omar Narvaez of Argentina a year ago for the title.

The boxing wonderboy released fast and heavy punches, which put 32-year-old Parrenas (24-7-1, 21 knockouts) on the canvas quickly in the second round. Inoue then followed up with killer left-hand blows that had the Philippine fighter on his knees.

Inoue grabbed the WBO crown last year, dethroning Narvaez who had defended the belt for 12 years with a second-round knockout.

The unbeaten 22-year-old previously captured the World Boxing Council light flyweight title in April last year and defended it six months later in September.

Tuesday's bout was part of a double-header that also featured Japanese challenger Akira Yaegashi (23-5, 12 knockouts) grabbing the International Boxing Federation world light flyweight title by beating Mexican Javier Mendoza (24-3-1, 19 knockouts).

Judges awarded the bout to Yaegashi by scores of 117-111, 119-109 and 120-107.
Source: AFP