There was an early call for a rematch, but it was a fairly one-sided fight and a clear win for Devin Haney who had George Kambosos Jr at the end of his jab.
The likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and even Shakur Stevenson all will feel they have to be beaten before we can really crown a King of the Division, but for now it is Devin Haney who holds all the cards and he will have plenty of choices in front of him.
On the same night I think we may have seen the end of Junior Fa's career after a stunning First Round Knock Out at the hands of Lucas Browne, while the Moloney brothers will be pushing for World Title bids in the coming months.
There were other cards that were worth watching on Saturday night- Stephen Fulton dominated Daniel Roman, while David Morrell earned another early nights work with a Fourth Round stoppage. Both of those fighters have called out other big names in and around their Divisions, while there was a Knock Out of the Year contender in Great Britain.
I thought Joe Cordina could have been found out by a solid Champion, but his Second Round Knock Out punch is the best I have seen in 2022 and he is in line for some big fights as others call for Unification. For us fans in the United Kingdom, the win may be one that encourages Shakur Stevenson to come over here for a big Unification before his inevitable move up to 135 pounds.
Naoya Inoue vs Nonito Donaire II
When these two met in the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight Final in November 2019, it proved to be a classic bout and one that tested Naoya Inoue more than we have come to expect from opponents facing up to The Monster.
Nonito Donaire hurt Inoue and the veteran showed all of his experience to push Naoya Inoue, although he was dropped late and beaten on the scorecards.
Some may have felt it was the last big effort from Nonito Donaire in his long career, but eighteen months later he returned to face unbeaten WBC Champion Nordine Oubaali and stopped him in the Fourth Round. Another unbeaten opponent was stopped in the Fourth Round at the end of 2021 and now Nonito Donaire has been able to line up a Unification against the one fighter he was desperate to rematch.
He produced a remarkable performance in that fight in November 2019 and Nonito Donaire is heading back into the same Arena to try and dethrone Naoya Inoue.
However, like many others, my feeling is that Nonito Donaire produced an almost perfect performance in that first fight and still came up short. He hurt Naoya Inoue and he fractured an eye socket and caused a cut, but even with all of that, Nonito Donaire came up short.
That is hard to ignore and I do think the time passed between the first fight and this rematch will only favour Naoya Inoue who will be much more prepared to face Donaire and know what is coming up.
Naoya Inoue has won all three fights since the first one against Nonito Donaire and the Japanese star has got back to breaking down and stopping opponents.
I think he is going to be able to do the same against Donaire in this one and Naoya Inoue should be fresher going into the second half of this Championship fight than he was after taking some early punishment in 2019. Even then, Naoya Inoue demonstrated how long his power carries by putting Nonito Donaire down in the Eleventh Round and I think he will be stronger in this rematch and unlikely to be as busted up as he was in the first fight.
The Monster can underline his status as the top Bantamweight in the world with another impressive win over Nonito Donaire and this time he can get the veteran out of there in the second half of the fight. I expect Naoya Inoue to be more switched on at countering what Donaire is going to try and bring and being fresher should mean being able to turn the screw more effectively than in their first fight when dealing with a serious fracture and cuts.
Only one fighter has ever been able to stop Nonito Donaire, but Naoya Inoue has the pop and power to become the second as he wears down the 39 year old.
MY PICKS: Naoya Inoue to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.87 Bet365 (2 Units)
Boxing 2022 Update: 20-32, + 17.80 Units (93 Units Staked, + 19.14% Yield)
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