Takuma Inoue

Takuma Inoue (井上 拓真, Inoue Takuma, born December 26, 1995) is a Japanese professional boxer. He held the WBC interim bantamweight title from 2018 to 2019, and challenged for the full world title in 2019.

Professional career[]

He started boxing from a very young age, after watching his brother competing, winning several high school championships. After showing much promise as an amateur, Takuma made his pro debut in 2013, when he was barely 18 years old. His first opponent was future WBO Minimumweight World Champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (12-3). Even though he was outmatched, Inoue managed to pull off the upset and get the unanimous decision over the much more experienced boxer. That was his only fight in the light flyweight division. He immediately jumped to flyweight, facing a worthy foe in Teeraphong Utaida (25-2). Neither the fact that he moved up a weight class nor that he went from 6 to 8 rounds, scared the young Japanese prodigy. Once again, Takuma proved that he was a force to be reckoned with, going the distance and earning yet another victory. After knocking out a debuting , Inoue outclassed world title contender (20-2) at super flyweight, despite that being only his fourth fight. ^[1]

He defeated Mark Anthony Geraldo to win the OPBF Super flyweight title. Takuma’s sound skills and technique, earned him his first championship when he fought Mark Anthony Geraldo (31-6), for the vacant OPBF Super Flyweight title, in 2015. At the time, he was just 19 years old. Before the year was over, he successfully defended the belt against Rene Dacquel (15-5). In 2016, Takuma beat Filipino stand out (23-1*) at the Sky Arena in Japan, before moving up to bantamweight. Saludar managed to drop him early in the opening round but Inoue returned the favor in the later rounds. The Japanese fighter was set to face Marlon Tapales (29-2) for the WBO Bantamweight World Title on December of the same year. Unfortunately, bad luck stroke Inoue as he fractured his hand in training, thus withdrawing from his one and only world title fight to date. Inoue made his return on August of 2017, in an epic war with 4-time world title challenger (25-16). Both men went back and forth for 10 rounds, exchanging shots and stealing the show. Takuma remained unbeaten and proved that he was back and stronger than ever. He went on to defeat former Japanese champion Kentaro Masuda (27-8) and Indonesian journeyman (12-11). Now back in the world title picture, his next fight could be the one he needs to finally compete for the big one. ^[2]

WBC Eliminator

On September 11, Takuma Inoue squared off with for an opportunity at the WBC Bantamweight World Championship. Takuma Inoue (11-0 / 3 KOs) is the younger brother of 3 division world champion, Naoya Inoue. (29-12 / 14 KOs) is a veteran of the sport, who has been around for 11 years. Despite having lost 12 of his 41 fights, he has only been stopped twice, while his last recorded loss is back in 2014. 22-year-old Takuma Inoue is one win away from joining brother Naoya as a world champion after defeating Filipino veteran to become the WBC bantamweight mandatory challenger. They were fairly neck-and-neck until Inoue floored Yap with a left hook in the fifth. From there, Inoue maintained control for the next three rounds and turned aside Yap’s late onslaught, which came about when open scoring revealed that he needed a knockdown or knockout to win. ^[3]

WBC Interim Championship

On 12/30, Takuma Inoue won vacant WBC Interim Title against Petch Sor Chitpattana in Ota City General Gymnasium Japan. Petch Sor Chitpattana (48-0) holds the most impressive record in the entire division but it has been compiled at the expense of distinctly average opposition. Takuma Inoue's career has now hit a career-high after winning his first world-level title and has another big fight waiting in the wings. Inoue earned a unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 117-111) to win the bantamweight title. The fight started off with Inoue landing the straight right hand effectively, causing a cut near Chitpattana's right eye. Throughout the first couple of rounds, Chitpattana's head movement was almost nonexistent, allowing Inoue to let his hands go and take control of the fight early. Chitpattana did manage to get back and starting landing punches, some to the body, but was still outmatched by Inoue. In the middle rounds, Inoue's punch output started to decrease and Chitpattana established his right hand to pressure Inoue. Late in the ninth round, Inoue, with his back against the ropes, landed a right hand that caught Chitpattana off-balance and Inoue finished the round with a flurry of shots. In the 10th round, Inoue landed a body shot that stunned Chitpattana, reclaiming the momentum that he had in the early rounds. Chitpattana tried to come back pressure forward to Inoue, looking to work the body, but Inoue proved to be too much for Chitpattana to handle. As the interim WBC champion, Inoue is also the mandatory challenger to the winner of the vacant WBC world title fight between Rau'Shee Warren and Nordine Oubaali. The WBC title was previously held by Luis Nery but was stripped of the belt after being missing weight before a title defense against Shinsuke Yamanaka earlier this year. After multiple attempts to stage a fight for the vacant title failed throughout the year, the WBC created an interim title despite still being no actual champion at the time.^[4]

WBC Bantamweight Championship

Nordine Oubaali vs Takuma Inoue

Inoue faced two time Olympian Nordine Oubaali on his 2nd Title defense on Thursday, November 7th 2019 on the undercard of Naoya Inoue vs Nonito Donaire on the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight Final. The Saitama Super Arena will be packed to capacity for the proceedings as Oubaali brings the experience and power advantage to the table while Inoue looks to have the speed edge.

On fight night Nordine Oubaali drops and outpoints Takuma Inoue to retain his WBC title pounding out a unanimous decision (117-110, 120-107, 115-112). Inoue (13-1, 3 KO) was pushed back in the third round by the stronger Oubaali (17-0, 12 KO), and then dropped with a big left hand in the fourth. At that point it really looked like the Frenchman would overpower the Japanese challenger, and be able to put him away within the next few rounds, after Inoue survived the fourth by moving and holding. Inoue never gave up on the fight, staying quite competitive and coming back very nicely after the knockdown and break between rounds. He gave a fine accounting of himself as a legitimately solid contender, and not just a guy who got a crack because his brother is famous.

For the 33-year-old Oubaali, he’s established himself as one of the top fighters at 118 pounds, but he’s at a point age-wise where he probably wants to unify soon if that’s something that’s on his agenda. A fight with Naoya Inoue, if he beats Nonito Donaire in the next fight on this card, would be a natural to make in Japan based on this result. ^[5]

Awards[]

Inoue was named the 2015 The Ring magazine Prospect of the Year.^[6]

Personal life[]

He is the younger brother of Naoya Inoue.

Professional boxing record[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
15	Win	14–1	Keita Kurihara	TD	9 (12), 2:25	Jan 14, 2021	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan	Won OPBF bantamweight title
14	Loss	13–1	Nordine Oubaali	UD	12	Nov 7, 2019	Super Arena, Saitama, Japan	For WBC bantamweight title
13	Win	13–0	Petch Sor Chitpattana	UD	12	Dec 30, 2018	Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan	Won vacant WBC interim bantamweight title
12	Win	12–0	Mark John Yap	UD	12	Sep 11, 2018	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
11	Win	11–0	Waldo Sabu	KO	1 (10), 2:14	May 25, 2018	Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
10	Win	10–0	Kentaro Masuda	UD	10	Dec 30, 2017	Cultural Gymnasium, Yokohama, Japan
9	Win	9–0	Hiroyuki Hisataka	UD	10	Aug 30, 2017	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
8	Win	8–0	Froilan Saludar	UD	10	Sep 4, 2016	Sky Arena, Zama, Japan
7	Win	7–0	Afrizal Tamboresi	TKO	2 (12), 1:46	May 8, 2016	Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan	Retained OPBF super-flyweight title
6	Win	6–0	Rene Dacquel	UD	12	Dec 29, 2015	Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan	Retained OPBF super-flyweight title
5	Win	5–0	Mark Anthony Geraldo	UD	12	Jul 6, 2015	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan	Won OPBF super-flyweight title
4	Win	4–0	Nestor Daniel Narvaes	UD	8	Dec 30, 2014	Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
3	Win	3–0	Chalerm Kotala	KO	2 (8), 0:51	Sep 5, 2014	Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
2	Win	2–0	Teeraphong Utaida	UD	8	Apr 6, 2014	Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
1	Win	1–0	Tatsuya Fukuhara	UD	6	Dec 6, 2013	Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan

See also[]

• List of bantamweight boxing champions
• List of Japanese boxing world champions
• Boxing in Japan

References[]

External links[]

• Boxing record for Takuma Inoue from BoxRec