JAPANESE boxing star Naoya Inoue scored an eighth-round stoppage of Thai Aran Dipaen to retain his IBF and WBA bantamweight titles at the Kokugikan Hall in Tokyo on Tuesday night.
Inoue improved to 22-0 with 19 knockouts after the one-sided victory as he remained on course for a possible rematch with Nonito Donaire or a long-awaited face-off against Filipino rival John Riel Casimero.
Monster performance
Donaire retained the WBC piece of the bantamweight belts with a fourth-round stoppage of countryman Reymant Gaballo over the weekend.
On the other hand, Casimero, who has taunted Inoue for years, failed to defend his WBO title after not showing up for the weigh-in for his defense against England's Paul Butler.
The WBO is set to decide on whether to strip him of the title or not.
Either way, 'Monster' Inoue figures to be a tough opponent.
The 28-year old Japanese beat up Dipaen in the seventh round and finished him off in the eighth with a pair of left hooks. The official time was 2:34.
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