Photos: Takuma Inoue Pounds Keita Kurihara For Technical Decision Win

Takuma Inoue (14-1, 3 KOs) of Japan, the younger brother of WBA, IBF bantamweight champion Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue, bounced back from his first career defeat.  (photos by Naoki Fukuda)

On Thursday, he picked up the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight belt with a nine round technical decision win over his compatriot Keita Kurihara (15-6, 13 KOs).

The fight was stopped in the ninth round, due to a cut sustained by Kurihara from an accentual clash of heads. 

At the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, the judges handed down scores of 90-81, 89-82 and 89-82.

Inoue held the WBC’s interim title at bantamweight. In November of 2019, he challenged Nordine Oubaali for the full title and lost a twelve round unanimous decision.