The Boxing Truth®

Undefeated IBF/WBA/WBC Bantamweight world champion Nayoya Inoue can officially call himself the Undisputed Bantamweight champion of the world after scoring a one-sided eleventh round knockout of WBO World Bantamweight champion Paul Butler on Tuesday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. From the opening bell it was clear who was the superior fighter as Inoue frequently backed Butler against the ropes and teed off with vicious combinations to the body and head of the WBO champion. Although Butler appeared to have the fight plan of keeping a high defensive guard and attempting to use lateral movement against the pressure of Inoue, he did not let his hands go with consistency and was seemingly content to only throw punches occasionally in a clear show of respect for Inoue’s power. The action inside the ring or frankly lack thereof and mostly one way offense by Inoue eventually resulted in Inoue dropping his hands, shuffling his feat, and even putting his arms behind his back in an at...

Longtime readers know that a consistent feature every year on this observer’s annual “Boxing Wishlist” that usually begins the schedule at the start of a new year here on The Boxing Truth® that usually ranks near the top of the list, perhaps only outranked by a sincere desire to see the outdated and often inflated pay-per-view model done away with in favor of more economically reasonable subscription-based alternatives, is a wish to eventually see one undisputed world champion crowned in each of Boxing’s seventeen weight divisions. While much like my stance on the pay-per-view model doing more harm to the sport of Boxing than it does to benefit it or the fighters that compete in it, the wish to see one undisputed world champion determined per weight class is something that most fans would probably view as wishful thinking and not realistic. Although it is indeed true that due to the various political aspects that are involved in the sport, including, but not limited to multiple sanctio...

Press Release: October 13, 2022 By Probellum – LONDON, OCTOBER 13 – Paul Butler goes in search of boxing immortality in December when he faces Naoya Inoue for the undisputed world bantamweight title.  Credit: Probellum  The WBO champion tackles Japanese hero Inoue, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, on Tuesday, December 13 on a historic night for the sport, promoted by Ohashi Promotion and Teiken Promotions in association with Probellum.Inoue holds the IBF, WBA and WBC belts and wants to clean up the division before moving up in weight – but two-time world champion Butler holds the missing piece of the puzzle. And the fighter from Ellesmere Port, in the UK, heads to the Land of the Rising Sun, fully intent on becoming boxing’s first undisputed bantamweight champion in half a century and scoring one of the biggest away wins by a British fighter ever.Paul Butler said: “I’ve been boxing for over 20 years and all the successes and set-backs have led me here, to the biggest ...

In November 2019, the Boxing world saw the conclusion of the second season of the highly acclaimed World Boxing Super Series (WBSS). To be more specific, the conclusion of that season’s Bantamweight tournament where world champions Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire put their respective championships on the line to determine not only the tournament winner, but who the best fighter was in the 118lb. Bantamweight division.   While the fight also had the storyline of youth versus experience with the future Hall of Famer Donaire in the role of trying to defy the odds by defeating a fighter that had dominated nearly every opponent he had faced in Inoue, no one was prepared for the classic encounter that took place when the two fighters entered the ring. A fight that was fought at a high pace from the opening bell, Inoue and Donaire engaged in a memorable battle for twelve rounds that was regarded by many as 2019’s Fight of the Year.   On that evening it was Inoue who was vict...