'Monster' Inoue to face Akhmadaliev in Japan
Japan's undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue announced Thursday that he will defend his titles against Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Nagoya in September.
The unbeaten Inoue stopped American Ramon Cardenas in the eighth round in Las Vegas in his previous bout -- the first time the boxer known as "Monster" had fought outside Japan in four years.
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The 32-year-old returns to his home country to take on Akhmadaliev, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and held the WBA and IBF super-bantamweight world titles between 2020 and 2023.
Inoue, who has a 30-0 record with 27 knockouts, told reporters in Tokyo that he wanted to "pay attention to all my skills" in preparing for the fight.
"I want to train with a high level of vigilance," he said.
Inoue was knocked down for only the second time in his career against Cardenas, taking a left hook from the heavy underdog in the second round.
He climbed off the canvas to stop Cardenas 45 seconds into the eighth round after a flurry of powerhouse punches.
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It was Inoue's fourth title defence since becoming undisputed super-bantamweight champion and his second of the year after knocking out South Korea's Kim Ye-joon in the fourth round in Tokyo in January.
Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KOs) beat Mexico's Luis Castillo in his previous fight in May.
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