Inoue king of roosters: ninth boxer in history with 4 belts

In Tokyo, the Japanese Naoya “Monster” Inoue became the only world bantamweight champion also conquering the title of the fourth abbreviation, the Wbo, with the success by knockout in the 11th round over the Englishman Paul Butler. Inoue, undefeated as a professional (all won 24 fights) was already in possession of the Wbc, Wba and Ibf crowns and is now the first unique and undefeated bantamweight champion since the days (1972) of Panamanian Enrique Pinder.

Unstoppable climb

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Today for Inoue, world champion in three different categories (mini fly and super fly, before cock) during his career, was the eighth challenge for the title which he unified today. After defeating Butler, Inoue said he would like to move up the tier to super bantamweight. “But in the meantime I’m enjoying – said Inoue – the fact of being the one and only world champion of a category that is anything but easy, for the value of the opponents, like the bantamweight”.

Eight previous

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The Japanese became the ninth boxer to hold the 4 initials of the same weight since his origins in 2004: the others were Bernard Hopkins (middleweight), Jermain Taylor (middleweight), Terence Crawford (superlightweight), Oleksandr Usyk (light heavyweight), Josh Taylor (superlightweight), Saul Alvarez (supermiddleweight), Jermell Charlo (superwelterweight) and Devin Haney (lightweight).

Goodbye Pen

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Benito Penna, one of the protagonists of Italian boxing, died today in Cremona. Born in Castelverde on March 17, 1940, Penna made his debut when he was just fifteen and at just 18 he was already among the best heavyweights, so much so that he entered the national team. In September 1959 the first fight with the Fiamme Oro jersey, then the Olympics and the European Championships in Belgrade, where the Russian Abramov denied him the gold on points. Turning professional in 1962. December 26, 1976, in what will be his last fight: Penna has again the opportunity to fight for the Italian title, the opponent is Cane ‘. A perfect right foot in terms of timing and execution knocks the Bolognese down in the fifth round, but Penna, instead of “finishing him”, deliberately waits for him to get up. Cane’ recovers and wins on points, but that gesture of extreme sportsmanship will be worth much more to Penna than a title, making him an example of respect and fair play. Record: 131 matches between amateurs and pros, with 83 successes, 28 by technical knockout.