News On Japan

Boxing: Naoya Inoue vacates 4 belts, moves up to super bantam

TOKYO, Jan 14 (Kyodo) - Undefeated Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue announced his decision Friday to relinquish all four bantamweight belts and move up to the super bantamweight division.

In a press conference in Yokohama, Inoue said his attempt to become the world's first boxer to sweep the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF belts in two weight divisions would be his biggest challenge.

The 29-year-old, nicknamed "Monster," completed a sweep of the four in the bantamweight class last month with an 11th-round knockout of Britain's Paul Butler, who came in as the World Boxing Organization's bantamweight champion. ...continue reading

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