Naoya Inoue ANNIHILATES Omar Narvaez in TWO
By Lou Eisen
Japanese super flyweight Naoya Inoue absolutely destroyed Argentinean Omar Narvaez, dropping him to the canvas four times en route to capturing his WBO world super flyweight title. This was not a competitive fight by any means. For that to have happened, Narvaez would have had to fight back. Narvaez was incapable of earning the respect of the loaded for bear challenger. This was a blowout for the short but explosive two rounds that it lasted. This resembled more of a street mugging by a gang of thugs than a boxing match. Inoue hit Narvaez with such force, it looked as if he was using a two by four while completely demolishing the defending champion in the process.
The fight was held at the Metropolitan Gym in Japan and the hometown crowd raucously cheered on their hometown favorite, Inoue. It is hard to believe that given the tremendous poise and power shown by Inoue that this was only his eighth pro fight. However, it is not uncommon at this weight level however for fighters to mature much quicker than in the higher weight classes.
The fact that Narvaez is a southpaw had virtually no bearing on the outcome of the fight. Inoue used his superior reach and lightning quick fists to send Inoue to the canvas only 30 seconds into the opening round with a straight right hand to the jaw that clearly had the defending champion in trouble. Narvaez beat the count but was definitely on shaky legs. Inoue then proceeded to drop Narvaez to the mat again for the second time in less than a minute with a picture perfect left hook to the temple. The end was clearly nigh. Narvaez survived the round but was definitely out on his feet.
In the second round, Inoue targeted Narvaez’s body with a ferocious two-fisted attack that featured vicious left hooks deep into the soon-to-be ex-champ’s unprotected liver. Narvaez’s legs sagged every time Inoue touched him with a liver shot. Inoue got his full weight behind another brutal left hook to the champ’s liver that clearly put the champ in deep trouble and ready to go. Inoue again upped his game to a higher level as he proceeded to lay an utterly savage beating on the quickly fading champ.
Narvaez was trying his best to fight back until he got caught midway through the second round with a beautiful counter left hook flush on the button, only to taste the canvas once again. Narvaez rose but it was obvious to everyone that he would not last the round.
He unwisely stood his ground in an attempt to fight back, where upon Inoue caught him with one last savage blow, a blistering left hook to the ribcage. Narvaez looked as if he had been hit with a baseball bat as he sank slowly to the canvas and was unable to beat the count. It is not hyperbole by any means to say that Narvaez took more of a beating in those two rounds with Inoue than he did in all of his other fights combined.
The speed and devastation of Inoue’s complete and utter destruction of Narvaez was a sight to watch. Inoue didn’t just beat Narvaez, he ended him, for good. Last September in Japan as well, Inoue captured the WBC light-flyweight world title by scoring a TKO over Samartlek Kokietgym in 11 rounds. Inoue is for real and is only going to get better, which is a frightening thought for the rest of the junior flyweight division.
