IBF/WBA bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue’s 12 round unanimous decision victory over WBA champ Nonito ‘The Filipino Flash’ Donaire (40-6, 26 KOs) was a costly one last Thursday with the Japanese suffering a couple of injuries to his face. He suffered a right orbital bone fracture and a broken nose.
The most serious of Inoue’s two injuries is the fractured right orbital bone. This is an injury that led to Inoue complaining of double division during the bout last Thursday at the Super Arena, in Saitama, Japan.
Naoya won’t require surgery
Inoue, 26, says he won’t need surgery to repair the fractured orbital bone. There are three types of orbital bone fractures and they are as follows:
- Orbital rim fracture
- Blowout fracture
- Orbital floor fracture
Inoue isn’t saying which type of orbital bone fracture he has, but they all can result in double vision. The treatment for the injury can be one of several options: ice pact, medications or surgery.
Inoue says he thinks he can be back inside the ring in 2020 to resume his career. He just signed with Top Rank Boxing, and his next fight is supposed to be in the U.S. He reportedly wants to fight a unification match against WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Ouabaali, who defeated his brother Takuma Inoue last Thursday.
Inoue suffered eye injury in round 2
“There is a report. I told the eyeball that there was no abnormality, but I had a right eye orbital fracture with the left hook of 2R,” said Inoue on his Twitter in describing his injuries from Donaire fight last Thursday.
“Fortunately, I couldn’t do surgery with conservative treatment. There will be no impact on next year’s game, so I will do my best again. ︎By the way, my nose was broken.”
Inoue won the fight by the scores 116-111, 114-113, 117-109. He knocked down the 36-year-old Donaire in round 11 with a body shot. Donaire just barely beat the count, and covered up to make it to the bell. He did land a couple of sneaky left hooks that caught Inoue flush to the head while he was unloading.
Despite being badly hurt, Donaire was able to pack a lot of power in his left hook. Inoue showed a great chin to take those shots, because a lot of fighters wouldn’t have. ‘Monster’ Inoue thought he had Donaire, but he didn’t realize that he wasn’t that badly hurt.
Donaire reacts to Inoue’s injury news
The Inoue vs. Donaire fight is a candidate for Fight of The Year for 2019. It was highly exciting from start to finish. A lot of boxing fans would like to see a rematch between them, but that’s probably not realistic. Inoue wants to unify the bantamweight division, and he could move up to 122 to go after titles in that weight class.
