Naoya Inoue made his case as one of the top fighters in the world by destroying previously undefeated Emmanuel Rodriguez in two rounds to retain his WBA and win the IBF Bantamweight title. In the process, Inoue advances to the final of the World Boxing Super Series where he will meet Nonito Donaire.
Inoue dropped Rodriguez three times in the 2nd round. The 1st was a booming right, and the final two were body shots. Rodriguez got to his feet, but with a bloody nose, the referee wisely waved off the bout at 1:19.
Inoue of Japan is now 18-0 with 16 knockouts. Rodriguez of Puerto Rico is 19-1.
Former world champion Paul Butler stopped Salvador Hernandez Sanchez in round six of their scheduled eight-round bantamweight bout.
Butler dominated the fight and dropped Sanchez with a left hook to the body in the 6th round that put Hernandez down for the count at 2:52.
Butler of England is now 29-2 with 15 knockouts. Sanchez of Mexico is 14-9-1.
Zach Parker remained undefeated by stopping Steven Cramber in round four of their scheduled eight-round super middleweight bout.
The bout was stopped after a barrage of punches at 2:47 for Parker, who is now 18-0 with 12 knockouts. Crambert of France is 8-5.
Lee McGregor went the distance for the 1st but won an easy decision over Brett Fidoe in a bantamweight bout.
McGregor of Scotland won by 60-54 scores and is now 6-0. Fidoe of England is 13-51-5.
Reece McFadden won a four-round decision over Georgi Georgiev in a super bantamweight fight.
Scores were 40-36 for McFadden who is 3-0. Gerogiev is 7-15-1.
