Naoya ‘’The Monster’’ Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym, who currently holds the World Boxing Association ‘’super,’’ International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council bantamweight titles at the same time, ‘’stopped’’ his Philippine sparring partner on Oct. 24, according to gym officials.

Inoue, who will face World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Paul Butler of Britain on Dec. 13 at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, landed a hard right to Arnel Baconaje of the Philippines in the third of the scheduled four-round session at the gym in Yokohama. Baconaje grimaced due apparently to the damage he suffered and could not continue the session.

Both Baconaje and Arthur Villanueva were brought from the Philippine to serve as sparring partners for the Monster and the Monster’s younger brother Takuma Inoue. It was the first day for Baconaje to have sparring with Inoue.

The gym’s president Hideyuki Ohashi made a statement to the effect, ‘’It was Inoue’s technical knockout victory in the third round as he hit Baconaje with a hard right. He has become even better technically and physically after his recent training camp in the United States.’’

The following is the recapitulation of the pool coverage:

Question: Mr. Baconaje served as a sparring partner for you before, didn’t he?
Answer: I don’t remember him well. But I think he was one of the three to four partners (from the Philippine) when I was a super flyweight boxer.

Q: While today was the opening day, your partner quit the sparring midway through the third round. What do you think?
A: I may not spar with him anymore. I want to spar with the other partner (Arthur Villanueva) and Japanese boxers.

Q: What do you think about your full-fledged sparring?
A: I have to correct my movement when I hit him. I will try to be as careful as possible. I will brush up that aspect. I will concentrate on my fight with (Paul) Butler within the final one month of the fight. Meanwhile, I will do fine adjustment.

Q: Baconaje was a fighter type boxer and is not like Butler. What do you think?
A: There is an amateur boxer whose fighting style is similar to that of Butler. We in the gym have Taku Kuwahara who will take a crack at the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation flyweight title tomorrow (Oct. 25). If and when Kuwahara wins, I hope him to become my sparring partner because he is similar to Butler in style and height. This is also my encouragement for Kuwahara. I hope him to become the OPBF flyweight champion and become a sparring partner for me.

Q: Is there any difference between your sparring before and the sparring this time?
A: Depending on my condition, I want to do longer round of sparring sessions. I did an eight-round sparring session at one time during my camp in the U.S. I think that will suit my pacing of fight with Butler.

Q: Before You have done sparring sessions with a Japanese boxer, haven’t you?
A: Yes, I have done sparring with (WBO’s Asia-Pacific super featherweight champion) Yoshimitsu Kimura (of Shisei Boxing Gym). But he is not a bantamweight. So, I think Kuwahara is better to build up my strategy against Butler.
Photos by Ohashi Boxing Gym