The long overdue title fight between WBA-IBF bantamweight champion Naoya “The Monster” Inoue and Filipino challenger Michael “Hot and Spicy” Dasmariñas is finally taking place this Sunday (Manila time) at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Believe it or not, it took over two years for the fight to finally come into fruition.
Dasmariñas (30-2, 1 draw, 20 knockouts) became the mandatory challenger to the IBF bantamweight (118 lbs.) crown as early as March 2019, when he outpointed countryman Kenny Demecillo in a 12-round title eliminator.
Two months after Dasmariñas’ win, in May 2019, IBF champ Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico was viciously knocked out and dethroned by WBA “regular” champion Inoue in a unification fight.
Instead of defending the IBF crown against Dasmariñas, Inoue proceeded to fight and defeat WBA “super” champ Nonito Donaire Jr. in a classic rumble in November 2019.
Inoue was tested to the hilt by Donaire, sustaining an assortment of injuries before carving out a well-deserved decision win.
Pushed to the backseat, Dasmariñas opted to stay sharp by stopping Artid Bamrungauea of Thailand in five rounds in October 2019.
The Thai offered a 25-28 win-loss record and was really nothing more than a sacrificial lamb. Artid kissed the canvas twice in the fourth round before being stopped in the fifth.
In December 2019, the head honchos of the IBF finally stepped in and ordered Inoue to defend his IBF crown against mandatory challenger Dasmariñas.
Inoue, however, had other plans. Instead of defending against Dasmariñas, Inoue agreed to an April 25, 2020 unification fight with WBO counterpart Johnriel Casimero.
The Casimero fight did not push through when the boxing world went on lockdown mode in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
When pro boxing resumed in the United States in June 2020, Inoue surprisingly cancelled the Casimero fight and opted to take on Australia’s Jason Moloney in October 2020.
In his first fight since sustaining fractures to his right eye socket against Donaire, Inoue flattened Moloney in seven rounds.
After the Moloney fight, Casimero once again called out Inoue for a unification bout. Inoue, however, conveniently avoided a showdown with the dangerous Casimero by finally agreeing to make a mandatory defense of the IBF diadem against Dasmariñas.
It definitely took Inoue-Dasmariñas a very long time to finally happen. The big question now is if it will be worth the wait.
Inoue (20-0, 17 knockouts) is the overwhelming favorite to prevail.
The Japanese superstar has fought better opponents and offers speed and punching power that many experts believe will be too much for Dasmariñas to handle.
Inoue’s left hook-right straight combination is absolutely lethal.
Dasmariñas is coming in as an enigma. He was stopped by countryman Marbon Bodiongan in two rounds in April 2012 but roared back by winning his next 15 fights before dropping a disputed decision to South African Lwandile Sityatha in December 2014.
Dasmariñas has since won 12 of his next 13 fights, the only blemish being a 10-round split draw with Ghana’s Manyo Plange in September 2018.
Dasmariñas was lucky to escape with a draw as he got more than what he bargained for against Plange. Plange hurt Dasmariñas in the seventh round but failed to capitalize, allowing Dasmariñas to rally and force a standoff.
The taller Dasmariñas lists a devastating left straight as his primary weapon. Dasmariñas’ left is thrown in textbook fashion, but he also varies it, occasionally digging the left to the body.
Dasmariñas’ right jab is underrated and it will serve him well if he can load up the jab and throw it with more authority.
The idea is for Dasmariñas’ right jab to zero in on Inoue’s eye sockets that have been damaged by Donaire. Ideally, Dasmariñas may want to vary the left straight into a hook as it perfectly targets the right eye.
In the Moloney fight, it was noticeable that Inoue was not that cocky and kept his guard up to protect his vulnerable eye.
Dasmariñas will also have to give Inoue plenty of angles and avoid standing in front of the fearsome Japanese. Moloney made this mistake and paid dearly for it as he was nailed by a perfect straight right from Inoue in the seventh stanza.
Dasmariñas has a lot of ring rust to shake off going into the fight.
He was last seen in the ring in October 2019 in a fight that was really meant to just keep his body warm.
Dasmariñas has promised to give it his all come fight time. The incentive is there as an upset victory will give Dasmariñas both the WBA and IBF bantamweight titles. The IBO crown Dasmariñas previously held was just a fringe belt.
It is a tall order, but Dasmariñas avers he is ready to walk the talk and bring home the crowns.
