Naoya Inoue stopped Aran Dipaen in eight dominant rounds on Tuesday in Japan to deliver a reminder of his status as one of boxing’s hardest hitters.
The undefeated ‘Monster’ retained his IBF and WBA bantamweight championships and extended his record to 22-0 with 19 knockouts.
The Japanese star, who is promoted by Top Rank in the USA, is among the world’s top pound-for-pound fighters.
He was in complete control of his Thai challenger Dipaen throughout the fight, inflicting a bloody nose and wobbling him on several occasions.
Inoue knocked Dipaen down for the first time in the eighth.
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Dipaen bravely got up but another Inoue onslaught forced the referee to intervene.
Inoue can look ahead to potentially huge fights in 2022.
John Riel Casimero holds the WBO title and was scheduled to fight Inoue last year before the pandemic interrupted those plans.
Their collision course could now be realised next year.
Nonito Donaire, who gave Inoue his hardest fight, is the WBC champion despite being 39 years old.
Sky Sports Boxing schedule
Saturday December 18 – Top Rank in Montreal
Artur Beterbiev vs Marcus Browne – IBF and WBC light-heavyweight titles
Saturday January 29 – BOXXER in Cardiff
Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams
Claressa Shields vs Ema Kozin – IBF, WBA and WBC middleweight titles
Saturday February 19 – BOXXER in Manchester – Sky Sports Box Office
Amir Khan vs Kell Brook
Saturday February 26 – Top Rank in Glasgow
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall – undisputed super-lightweight titles