The long-awaited rematch between two of the best bantamweight boxers in the world—Naoya Inoue of Japan and Filipino Nonito Donaire—is finally happening on June 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
In a post on his official Twitter account, Inoue confirmed Part II of the duel that will put his World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles and the “Filipino Flash” Donaire’s World Boxing Council belt on the line.
Inoue’s post, with the hashtag #DramainSaitama2, was accompanied by a fight poster from Amazon Prime Video, the official broadcast partner in Japan.
Inoue and Donaire met for the first time in November 2019 in the final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament in a classic brawl that was hailed as the undisputed Fight of the Year.
Inoue’s unanimous decision win over Donaire could not hide the struggle the Japanese champion went through in that fight.
Inoue suffered a broken bone around his right eye due to Donaire’s big right hand in Round 9. He, however, bounced back big with a body shot knockdown in the 11th round to seal the hard-earned win.
Donaire (42-6,28 KOs) also rebounded with back-to-back victories after that loss, proving that at 39, he could still provide the scare—or even a knockout performance—against the Japanese Monster, who remained undefeated in 22 fights, 19 of them by KO.
Although he needed three months to recover from injuries after that first edition of the “Drama in Saitama”, Inoue has won three fights after that bout with Donaire.
The two will be meeting again after failed attempts by the camp of another Filipino bantamweight champ, World Boxing Organization titlist John Riel Casimero to seal a fight deal with either Donaire or Inoue.
Casimero instead will defend his title against British mandatory challenger Paul Butler on April 22 in the United Kingdom.
