Inoue recovers from knockdown, destroys Nery

MANILA, Philippines – Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue dusted off a shocking first career knockdown and unleashed hell on Mexican Luis Nery, putting down the challenger three times as vengeful payback en route to a sixth-round TKO win at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on Monday.

In a stunning sight, Nery caught an unsuspecting Inoue with a looping left straight to the jaw during a close-quarters exchange in the opening round that sent the pound-for-pound star to the canvas for the first time in his career. 

The incident silenced the heavily pro-Inoue crowd, who had been booing Nery all night due to the Mexican’s history of doping during one of his past fights in the country.

But knocking down the local hero turned out to be Nery’s lone finest moment — one that woke up “The Monster” with deadly consequences.

Inoue — the undisputed super bantamweight champion who put his four titles (WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO) on the line and successfully defended them Monday — quickly adjusted in the second round and clipped a charging Nery with a short left hook that led to a knockdown to even things out.

He spent the next moments showboating and egging Nery to hit him, but the Mexican — hoping to pull off a Buster Douglas at the same Tokyo venue where Mike Tyson first tasted defeat — had become wary since getting a taste of Inoue’s devastating power.

In the fifth round, Inoue lured Nery to the ropes and tagged him with two short left hooks to the head that sent the challenger down a second time.

Inoue finished Nery off in the next round with a right uppercut-straight combo that had him slipping down the ropes, the referee seeing enough that he didn’t bother to count and just waved the bout off.

The victory was Inoue’s 27th overall and 24th by way of knockout. It was also the eighth straight time Inoue — only the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights after American Terence Crawford — had stopped an opponent.

Nery, meanwhile, fell to 35-2 (27 KOs).