Naoya Inoue stops overmatched Aran Dipaen in eight

Japanese star Naoya Inoue stopped overmatched Aran Dipaen in eight rounds Tuesday in Tokyo.

Naoya Inoue gave his fans what they wanted.

The Japanese knockout artist battered and then stopped overmatched Aran Dipaen in the eighth round to retain his bantamweight titles Tuesday in Tokyo, his first fight in his home country since he defeated Nonito Donaire in Saitama in 2019.

Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs) stalked Dipaen (12-3, 11 KOs) from the outset, bloodied his nose and did more and more damage as the fight progressed. He hurt his Thai opponent in Round 7. Then, in Round 8, he put Dipaen down with a left hook.

The dazed challenger was able to get up but he took another hard left hook, which prompted the referee to save Dipaen from further punishment.

The official time of the stoppage was 2:34 of Round 8.

Inoue, No. 3 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, has now knocked out 11 of his last 12 opponents. Donaire took him the distance.

The champion said going into the fight with Dipaen that he wants to unify all four major 118-pound titles, with WBO beltholder John Riel Casimero being his first priority. Donaire won the WBC title after losing to Inoue.

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