At least one bantamweight title will remain in the Inoue family.
Takuma Inoue claimed the vacant WBA 118-pound belt with a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over former WBA junior bantamweight titlist Liborio Solis. Scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110 for Inoue in their ESPN+/Amazon Prime-aired bout Saturday from Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
The win comes in the first title fight since Naoya Inoue, Takuma’s older brother, officially vacated all four major titles in January.
Inoue landed the most favorable possible road among the four title paths. It still took him a couple of rounds to find his offense and confidence as he struggled to get into a rhythm earlier into his second bid at winning a major title.
Solis took advantage of the moments provided to him. The 41-year-old former titleholder from Panama City by way of Venezuela outworked a hesitant Inoue in the opening round, landing right hands and body shots.
Inoue, 14 years Solis’ junior at age 27, landed his first impactful punch of the fight when a right hand caught Solis on the temple in round two. It was the standout moment in a relatively inactive round where both fighters struggled to get past the other’s tight defense.
The pace picked up in round three, as Inoue took the lead. Solis was discouraged by the increased punch output of Inoue, though never to the threat of being hurt.
Solis went into stalker mode in round four, which once again forced Inoue to shut down his offense. Most of the round was spent at close quarters, thanks to Solis’ smothering approach as he disallowed Inoue much room to work even after the two were separated during frequent clinches.
Inoue landed a left hand counter that caught the attention of Solis early in round five. Solis moved past it and went back on the attack. His aggressive approach was too overzealous, as an elbow by the visiting Venezuelan produced a cut outside the left eye of Inoue in the closing seconds of the round.
Solis treated the wound as a bullseye, constantly launching right hands in round six. Inoue quickly adapted and played matador defense, at one point even daring Solis to come forward. A combination by Inoue briefly froze Solis with less than 30 seconds to go prior to the midway point of the contest.
Inoue played stick-and-move to open the second half of the bout. Solis struggled to get past Inoue’s jab and sudden offensive burst. He wisely tightened up his guard to pick off most of the incoming, though Inoue grew in confidence while Solis’ punch output dramatically decreased.
Highlight reel moments remained at a premium through eight rounds. Inoue found his desired distance, which forced Solis to reach with his punches in lieu of the type of inside game that benefited him early in the round. Inoue landed a crisp right hand just before the bell.
Inoue once again put his counter skills to use in round ten. Solis overcommitted on a long right hand, which Inoue dodged and followed with a compact right that found Solis’ chin. As he’d done throughout the fight, Inoue used the sequence to reset his offense and keep Solis at bay.
Solis grew increasingly frustrated by Inoue’s frequent clinches whenever he was able to work his way inside. Inoue turned the tables later in the eleventh round when he drove Solis to the ropes, though unable to land anything of substance.
Both fighters flurried in the closing seconds of the fight. Inoue was often quicker to the draw and his cleaner punching proved to be the difference in the wide scorecards.
Solis came up short in his second bid to win a major title in a second weight division, along with two more defeats in secondary title fights during that time. His record fell to 35-7-1 (16KOs), as his five-fight win streak came to a close and questions abound as he is in his 23rd year as a pro.
Inoue advanced to 18-1 (4KOs). His lone defeat came in his first title bid, a November 2019 unanimous decision defeat to then-unbeaten WBC bantamweight titlist Nordine Oubaali.
With the title win on his second try, he now plans to proudly carry on the family name.
“It’s such a relief to win this title,” Inoue said after the title win. “This is special because it is a title that my brother used to own. As the younger brother of Naoya Inoue, I have to carry that legacy. I will step forward and honor the family name.”
Headlining the card, lineal/WBA/WBC junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji (20-1, 12KOs) defends his crown versus late replacement Anthony Olascuaga (5-0, 3KOs).
By Jake Donovan