Through its first two seasons, the World Boxing Super Series has consistently produced exciting, high-stakes fights between elite combatants in four different divisions.
But the most exciting of all -- and for enormous stakes -- came Nov. 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Japanese favorite Naoya Inoue, the pound-for-pound-ranked star who has won world titles in three weight classes, clashed with Nonito Donaire, a future Hall of Famer who has won titles in four divisions, in what unexpectedly turned out to be the 2019 fight of the year.
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Inoue, 26, came into the bantamweight title unification bout having stormed through his first two fights of the tournament in less than three rounds, stopping Juan Carlos Payano and Emmanuel Rodriguez. Inoue was a significant favorite against the 37-year-old Donaire, who had dropped down in weight to enter the field. Donaire won a title in the quarterfinals when favored Ryan Burnett suffered a freak injury in the fourth round and had to retire from the bout. Donaire then scored a brutal knockout of overmatched Stephon Young in the semifinals. Young was a late replacement for Zolani Tete, who suffered a shoulder injury days before the fight.
Inoue-Donaire was expected to be a coronation of "The Monster," but "The Filipino Flash" gave Inoue the most demanding fight of his career.
It was a mesmerizing, punishing battle from start to finish between two master boxers whose inclination is to stand and fight. They dispensed with the sweet science and rumbled in an enthralling and superb fight, which Inoue won 117-109, 116-111 and 114-113 on the scorecards -- but not before he had to overcome tremendous adversity for the first time in his career.
Donaire (40-6, 26 KOs) opened a cut over Inoue's right eye with a clean left hook in the second round, and it caused him problems for the rest of the fight. Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) said he had double vision thereafter and he also suffered a fractured orbital bone and nose in the second or third round. But Inoue fought through the problems and repeatedly rocked Donaire with right hands.
Then came the epic 11th round, which featured massive momentum swings and included Inoue dropping Donaire with a left to the body and nearly finishing him before Donaire stormed back to hurt Inoue. Before the round was over, Inoue turned the tables and nearly dropped Donaire again. Then they slugged it out again in the 12th round to conclude an unforgettable fight.