By Carlos Costa

On fire and thrilling fans once again, “The Monster” Naoya Inoue crushed and stopped Puerto Rican world titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez in a fast and explosive round two knockout win to become the unified WBA/IBF Bantamweight World Champion Saturday, May 18, at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.

Naoya Inoue’s game excited fans with his quick hands, awesome defensive and attacking moves, and his truly engaging combating mode.

His sensational win over Rodriguez propels Inoue (18-0, 16 KO’s) to the great final of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS), where the exciting 26-year-old Japanese will battle veteran Filipino WBA Super Champion Nonito Donaire, 36, in one of the most anticipated bantamweight title matches in recent memory.

Three times Naoya Inoue rocked down his Puerto Rican foe, a former undefeated IBF champ, whom he forced to go through the roughest, most punishing minutes of his life.

The first knockdown was a perfectly-placed left hook thrown by Inoue during a furious exchanged that landed sharp and powerful on the chin of Rodriguez, seating him down roughly in the middle of the ring.

The brave Puerto Rican  —  a warrior from the boxing-loving Island that has produced iconic world champions  —   found the strength to get on his feet and listen to his count, though it was visible that huge damage has been done… and the round was still young.

Then, a colossal blow to the mid-section impacted the taller Rodriguez (19-1, 12 KO’s) airing him out, sending him backwards and down, further prolonging his agony, at which point the Boricuan fighter looked at his corner seemingly trying to say “no mas.”   

Yet, the fight went on.   

Naoya Inoue’s brutal demolition job indeed continued, this time with a relentless attack on ropes, near Rodriguez’ corner, where the man from Puerto Rico just went down, absolutely beaten up with blood emanating from his nostril.   

A fantastic, scintillating victory for Naoya Inoue.

Not only has three-division world champion Naoya Inoue claimed another world title strap, advanced to the great final of the WBSS, and won the enthusiasm of so many more fans, but he has sharply ascended to the planet’s P4P list, with many boxing fans already pondering if “The Monster” is as sensational or more than Lomachenko.

While the question lingers, next is “The Monster” Naoya Inoue vs “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire in the great final WBSS later this year, fans wondering who would win.

The author of this column Carlos Costa is a Panama boxing reporter living in the Philippines.   Carlos can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.comand by whatsapp/viber/wechat:  +639184538152.