{"id":3653,"date":"2022-12-14T05:50:03","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T05:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/naoya-inoue-v-paul-butler-the-monster-becomes-first-undisputed-bantamweight-champion-in-50-years\/"},"modified":"2022-12-14T05:50:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T05:50:05","slug":"naoya-inoue-v-paul-butler-the-monster-becomes-first-undisputed-bantamweight-champion-in-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/naoya-inoue-v-paul-butler-the-monster-becomes-first-undisputed-bantamweight-champion-in-50-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Naoya Inoue v Paul Butler: ‘The Monster’ becomes first undisputed bantamweight champion in 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/span><\/span>
Naoya Inoue is undefeated in 24 pro fights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Naoya Inoue stopped Liverpool’s Paul Butler to become the first undisputed bantamweight champion in half a century.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Butler was the defending WBO champion but was thoroughly outclassed by Inoue, who became frustrated with his rival’s refusal to engage in Tokyo.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Inoue’s 21st career knockout finally came in the 11th round as he dropped Butler under a barrage of punches.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is the greatest moment [of my career],” Inoue said after the fight.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is the first time in the four-belt era that an undisputed bantamweight champion has been crowned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue, 29. plans to move up in weight, having already won world titles at super-flyweight and light-flyweight.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Japanese star was fighting in his 19th world championship bout in a row and remains undefeated in 24 professional fights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler was aiming to be the first Englishman to become an undisputed champion in the four-belt era, but the 34-year-old returns home empty-handed having been unsuccessful in the first defence of his title.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue cruises to historic win<\/h3>\n

Butler had <\/span>earned plaudits for agreeing<\/span><\/a> to travel to Inoue’s backyard just seven months after being upgraded to WBO champion. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Briton entered the ring to Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger but there was little bite from the travelling fighter at the Ariake Arena. <\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue pressed forward from the first round, but Butler was able to catch most of his punches and spent much of his time circling away from danger.<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler was getting constant instruction from his corner, which included his trainer Joe Gallagher and former world champion Scott Quigg.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicknamed the ‘Monster’, Inoue settled into a rhythm of hunting Butler down. He would intermittently land quick combinations but needed to work to break down Butler’s high guard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue invested in painful body shots, but became visibly frustrated as the fight grew on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Naoya<\/span><\/span>
Inoue was fighting in his 19th world championship bout in a row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Have a bit of swagger to you,” was the call from Butler’s corner, but the Briton was unable to oblige.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue tried to open Butler’s guard with a body shot before searching for a hook to the head.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reigning WBA (Super), IBF and WBC champion began to goad Butler at the midway point, smiling at his rival and shuffling round the ring. <\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue invited Butler on to him but with no success and produced an ‘Ali shuffle’ in the seventh round before putting his hands behind his back in the eighth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue landed a good right hand in the ninth and the crowd offered encouragement in the 10th, a rare sight in the usually quiet and respectful Japanese combat sports world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inoue responded, rapidly increasing the pace in the penultimate round and hurting Butler with a body shot and left hook to the head.<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler staggered from the force of the blows, prompting Inoue to surge forward and unload a barrage of punches, finally dropping the Briton.<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler was unable to beat the count, handing Inoue a historic win and strengthening his claim as the world’s best fighter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Panamanian Enrique Pinder was the last undisputed bantamweight champion in 1972.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Watch<\/span><\/span>\"Watch<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naoya Inoue is undefeated in 24 pro fights Naoya Inoue stopped Liverpool’s Paul Butler to become the first undisputed bantamweight champion in half a century. Butler was the defending WBO champion but was thoroughly outclassed by Inoue, who became frustrated with his rival’s refusal to engage in Tokyo. Inoue’s 21st career knockout finally came in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3655,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions\/3655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}