Inoue KOs Dasmariñas for bantamweight belt

Undefeated Japanese boxing star Naoya Inoue – “the Monster” – recently knocked out Michael Dasmariñas in Las Vegas, flooring the Filipino thrice before finally stopping him in the third round.

“I just waited to see what he could take in the first round,” said Inoue. “After that, I was confident that I could take him out.”

Bantamweight champion Inoue retained his World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation belts.

Inoue will face either Filipino bantamweight champions Nonito Donaire or John Riel Casimero next.

Donaire, who once broke Inoue’s orbital bone before losing in a decision, will fight Casimero, who wants to face the Japanese after their fight was earlier canceled.

Inoue successfully defended his titles over Dasmariñas with body shots, flooring the Filipino for the first time with a left hook to the body in the second round. He managed to beat the count but Dasmariñas was clearly too shook up to regain his ground.

In the last minute of the third, Inoue threw the same punch, sending Dasmariñas to the canvas two more times before referee Russel Mora stopped the fight. Inoue’s record include 18th KOs in 21 fights. Dasmarinas, 28-year-old from La Union, fell to 30-3-1.