THE ‘Monster’ Naoya Inoue made his mark in America when he halted Jason Moloney in seven rounds inside Top Rank’s Bubble in Las Vegas on Saturday (October 31).
The Japanese sensation, a three weight world champion, defended his unified IBF and WBA bantamweight titles in style. Inoue was faster, sharper and Moloney found it hard to establish his jab. Inoue’s power was plain to see too as he picked out heavy hooks. He moved in and out of range expertly, forcing Moloney to miss with plenty of his punches.
Inoue pressed forward with quality uppercuts on the inside, the power getting through in the third round. He picked out savage counters. A big right hand shook Moloney up in the fifth and in the sixth round he intercepted the Australian with a left hook that blasted Jason off his feet. Inoue would not let him escape. He maintained the pressure and in the seventh a devastating short right hand over Moloney’s jab put him down, leaving Moloney disconnected and on the canvas, ending the fight there and then.
“The final punch I had, the finishing punch, I’m very happy and satisfied with that punch,” Inoue said afterwards. “Moloney has a great defence and it was very difficult to get through.
“As you go through from fight to fight, you learn things from the previous fight and I think I’m getting wiser and better.”
He’s setting his sights on the other bantamweight world titles, the WBC crown that his former foe Nonito Donaire will fight Nordine Oubaali for in December and John Riel Casimero’s WBO belt.
On the undercard Mikaela Mayer won the WBO super-featherweight when she widely outscored Ewa Brodnicka, winning a unanimous decision. The Pole had already lost the belt on the scales when she came in over the weight limit the day before.
