Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire go again, back in Japan

Naoya Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs) and Nonito Donaire (42-6, 28 KOs) return to the Saitama Super Arena in Japan in what should be another entertaining fight between the two. Inoue will put his WBA and IBF bantamweight world titles on the line while Donaire will risk his WBC title. The fight will air live on June 7 on Amazon Prime Video in Japan and ESPN+ in the US

This fight comes two-and-a-half years after their first meeting in which Donaire defied the expectations of many by not only giving Inoue his toughest fight to date, but also hurting him in an enthralling contest. Inoue suffered a fractured orbital bone that caused him to see double from the second round onwards, as well as a broken nose. He fought through the pain to knock Donaire down in the 11th round and win a unanimous decision, only the third time Inoue was made to do go the distance. Donaire lost his WBA title to Inoue, who also made a successful defence of his IBF belt.

Following the fight, Inoue had a planned unification bout with John Riel Casimero in April 2020 fall through due to the pandemic. He went on to defeat Jason Moloney by seventh-round KO in the US and it ended up being Inoue’s only fight of 2020. Inoue won two fights in 2021, a mandatory defence of the IBF title against Michael Dasmarinas ending in a third-round KO in the US and a voluntary against Aren Dipaen in Japan that was done in eight rounds.

Donaire wound up not having a single fight in 2020 after being named mandatory challenger for Nordine Oubaali’s WBC bantamweight title. The fight was originally scheduled for December 2020 but got postponed due to Oubaali testing positive for COVID-19. It was rescheduled for May 2021 and Donaire won by fourth-round knockout. Donaire made one defence of his newly acquired title roughly six months ago, defeating Reymart Gaballo, also by KO in the fourth.

Attention now turns to Inoue-Donaire II, a matchup between the best bantamweights in boxing. Although both are incredibly talented, Inoue goes in as the betting favourite. He is the younger man and has shown that he can knock down and hurt Donaire. A Donaire victory would surely be considered an upset. However, Donaire has defied father time in recent bouts and should not be underestimated. He put away his last two opponents with relative ease and will be determined to inflict the first loss on Inoue’s record.

Regardless of who wins the contest, the fans remain the true winners as they will be treated to yet another night of high-quality boxing in Saitama, Japan.