February 26, 2015
TOKYO, JAPAN
Japan’s Boxer of the Year, sensational WBO 115-pound champ Naoya Inoue (8-0, 7 KOs) will have his first defense scheduled in May postponed for some months due to his hand injury that he had suffered in his title-winning competition with Argentine Omar Narvaez a day before New Year Eve in Tokyo. It was announced on Tuesday by Hideyuki Ohashi, the manager/promoter of the newly crowned titleholder and former WBC/WBA minimumweight champ. On Wednesday, however, Inoue showed four-round sparring sessions by using only the left hand before press people and looked very sharp in beating up the sparring partner. His handler Ohashi says Inoue will have a thorough examination on the right hand next week and decide when he will be available. We wish his speedy recovery since he is one of the brightest stars out of Japan.
(2015-2-26)