Naoya Inoue retained his undisputed super bantamweight world titles with victory over Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev by unanimous decision on Sunday.
The unbeaten Japanese fighter took his professional record to 31-0 with a controlled and dominant win over his Uzbek opponent.
It was only the fourth fight the 32-year-old had not won by knockout, proving, he said, “I can fight smart if I want to”.
Inoue made an unusually cagey start, perhaps wary after being knocked down in two of his previous four bouts, but landed more big punches as the fight moved into the middle rounds with Akhmadaliev also beginning to let his fists fly.
The gap between the fighters began to widen as the fight progressed, with Inoue taking control and landing some concussive shots to his opponent. By the final bell in Nagoya, the winner was clear.