'The Monster' Naoya Inoue destroys Michael Dasmarinas in three

WBA and IBF bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue had little trouble with mandatory number one challenger Michael Dasmarinas, stopping the Filipino fighter in round three at Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, NV Saturday night.

The time was 2:45 seconds.

The quicker Inoue (21-0, 18 KOs) popped jabs and sharp right hands in the opening heat. Dasmarinas, a southpaw, moved and fired his right, but ate a counter left hook. Inoue stalked and fired. Dasmarinas smartly used lateral movement throughout the round.

Dasmarinas (30-3-1, 20 KOs) threw a punch to the body in round two. It was an attempt to slow Inoue down. Nope. Inoue continued to apply the pressure. A body punch seemed to bother Dasmarinas. Inoue,28, obviously noticed because seconds later a liver shot put Dasmarinas down. Dasmarinas beat the count and ate another wicked shot. Inoue, smelling blood, dug in two more liver shots at the bell.

In round three, Dasmarinas tried to get off first. The hyper-fast Inoue dodged a one-two and fired a right. He dug a left to the body. Dasmarinas moved while Inoue stalked and rocked. A vicious left to the ribs floored Dasmarinas for the second time. Inoue calmly walked after his stricken, dipped, and fired another left to the liver that crumbled Dasmarinas like a table with no legs.

The referee took one look at the prone Dasmarinas and waved the fight off.

“I just wanted to see what he had and what he could take in the first round,” said Inoue. “After that, I was confident that I could take him out.”