World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘’the Monster’’ Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym ended a five-day intensive physical training camp at the gym in Yokohama on Nov. 10 in preparation for his title unification fight with World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales of the Philippines on Dec. 26 in Tokyo.

  The 30-year-old Inoue went six rounds of sparring with the 15^th-ranked IBF super bantamweight Erik Robles of Mexico and then engaged himself in the physical training session under the guidance of the gym’s trainers Akira Yaegashi and Yasuhiro Suzuki.

The session consisted of 15-second punching bag hitting without letup, 20-second pushups followed by throwing four combination blows while jumping, 10-second balance ball pushing with Yaegashi and five sets of 15-second punching bag hitting only with hard punches (one set consisted of 60 seconds).

  Besides these, Inoue had three sets of mitt-hitting with trainer Kosuke Ota and wound up the day’s training by pedaling on a stationary bike with all his might.

  Inoue had sparring sessions three times in the week and issued a statement, ‘’It was the first time that I had had sparring sessions during my intensive training camps. I wanted to put more pressure on myself. Since my fatigue was steadily building up, I couldn’t move as I wanted. I hope I can move as I want starting next week.’’

Inoue will engage himself in doing training with Tapales in mind from next week. He said he has to be careful about his physical condition and not getting injured.

  The scheduled 12-rounder will be held at Ariake Arena.

Inoue has a record of 25 straight wins, including 22 knockouts, while the 31-year-old Tapales has a 37-3 win-loss tally with 19 KOs.

PHOTO by Ohashi Boxing Gym