Inoue keeps WBO 115lb belt by tenth round KO over #1 Petchbangborn

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Sumio Yamada

Unbeaten Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue (11-0, 9 KOs), 115, impressively retained his WBO junior bantamweight belt as he kept battering top contender Petchbangborn Kokietgym (38-8-1, 18 KOs), 115, swept all rounds and finally knocked him out at 3:03 of the tenth round on Sunday in Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Inoue, making his third defense against all #1 contenders, displayed a complete control of the contest, but the game Thailander withstood his assault and amazingly showed his persistent retaliation. But Inoue finally accelerated his attack so furiously that he had the challenger sprawling to the deck for the count tolled by the referee Mark Nelson of the US.