The Japanese light-flyweight title match took place at Sky Arena Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture on the 25th. Twenty-year-old standout rookie Naoya Inoue (Ohashi) defeated champion Ryoichi Taguchi (Watanabe), the WBA’s No. 3 contender, via a 3-0 unanimous decision to claim the Japanese title in only his fourth professional outing. The scores were 97-94, 98-93, and 98-92. Taguchi failed in his first title defence.
井上（右）は終始優位に試合を進めた
Inoue, boasting overwhelming speed, initiated the contest with rapid combinations from the opening bell. While Taguchi appeared momentarily unsettled by the challenger’s pace, the champion demonstrated his pedigree by landing a competitive, albeit glancing, right straight at the end of the round to signal his resolve.
From the second round, Taguchi applied consistent pressure, while Inoue countered effectively on the champion’s exits. Observing Taguchi’s tight guard, Inoue incorporated a heavy body attack. Inoue’s movement became increasingly dynamic in the fourth, utilizing superior footwork to establish a stiff jab and fluidly distributing his punches to both head and body.
After appearing to fade slightly around the third, Taguchi regained his momentum in the second half of the bout. The contest intensified as the champion launched an assault with right straights and left hooks. Inoue turned aggressive, occasionally fighting in a more rugged fashion through the seventh and eighth rounds, leading to a total effort from both men in the ninth and tenth. The bout concluded to significant applause for the defeated Taguchi. Inoue moves to 4-0 (3 KOs), while Taguchi falls to 18-2-1 (8 KOs).
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