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A 'monster' sighting Las Vegas: Naoya Inoue stops Jason Moloney

Inoue dismantles Moloney

 

By Anthony Cocks

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Monster wins photo by Mikey Williams
Monster wins photo by Mikey Williams

WBA, IBF and Ring magazine bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue 20-0 (17) proved why he is arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world with a seventh-round knockout of Jason ‘Mayhem’ Moloney 21-2 (18) at ‘The Bubble’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.

 

The 27-year-old Japanese phenom simply had too much firepower for Moloney, 29, sending the game Australian to the canvas twice during the contest.

 

Inoue, who was making his Vegas debut, boxed well from the opening bell behind an educated jab while looking to set up his power shots. Moloney worked the jab too and looked to land to the body with the right hand when he had the opportunity, but the champion took the shots well.

 

In the fourth round Moloney had more success as he upped his workrate, winning the round 10-9 on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

 

But Inoue turned on a Halloween nightmare after that, nailing Moloney with a short left hook early in the sixth that sent him to the canvas.

 

The challenger bravely rose to his feet and showed his experience to tie up on the inside and box from range to survive the round.

 

Unfortunately the writing was on the wall.

 

Late in the seventh a right cross from Inoue swiveled Moloney’s head and crumpled him to the canvas. Referee Kenny Bayless waved off the fight at the 2:29 mark.

 

In what could be considered a veiled warning to WBO boss John Riel Casimero 30-4 (21) and WBC titleholder Nordine Oubaali 17-0 (12), Inoue said he still has much improving to do.

 

“The final punch, the finishing punch, I’m very happy and satisfied with that punch,” said Inoue, who signed with Las Vegas-based promoter Top Rank last year.

 

“As you go fight to fight, you learn things from the previous fight… I’m getting wiser and better.”

 

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum was delighted with the performance.

 

“The Monster is a special fighter. I haven’t seen a young fighter like that in a long time,” he said. “And credit to Jason Moloney for fighting like a warrior. He gave it his absolute best.”

 

Moloney, who entered the bout on a four fight, four knockout win streak following his lone career loss to Emmanuel Rodriguez by split decision for IBF title two years ago, was active enough against Inoue but lacked the champion’s precision.

 

According to CompuBox, Inoue edged Moloney by just four total punches thrown 338 to 334.

 

The difference was in accuracy and power though, with Inoue landing with 32% (107) of his blows while Moloney’s connect rate was 19% (62).

 

In the fourth round Inoue began walking Moloney down, which opened up the champion to Moloney’s to counter punches.

 

But Moloney was unable to deter Inoue, who scored a knockdown on a counterpunch in the sixth and then knocked Moloney out in the following round.

 

Halloween belonged to "The Monster."

 

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