TOKYO: Japan’s Takuma Inoue captured the WBA bantamweight world title that his older brother Naoya vacated earlier this year, beating Venezuela’s Liborio Solis on Saturday to partially reclaim the family silver.

The elder Inoue, nicknamed “Monster”, became the first undisputed world bantamweight champion in half a century in December, before handing back all four belts the following month to move up to the super-bantamweight division.

The 27-year-old Takuma, two years younger than his unbeaten brother, claimed one title for himself when he beat the 41-year-old Solis by unanimous decision after 12 rounds in Tokyo.

With Naoya watching on from ringside, Takuma shrugged off a stray elbow that left him with a deep cut above his eye in the fifth round to outlast his opponent.

Takuma, who held the interim WBC bantamweight world title from 2018 to 2019, took his record to 18-1, winning four by knock-out.

Naoya Inoue is set to contend for two super-bantamweight world titles when he makes his debut in the division against WBC and WBO champion Stephen Fulton of the United States in Tokyo in July.

The fight was originally scheduled for May but was postponed last month when Inoue injured his hand in training.

Naoya Inoue has a 24-0 record with 21 knock-outs, and last year became the first Japanese fighter to top Ring Magazine’s prestigious pound-for-pound rankings as the best fighter across all weight divisions.

He also became the first undisputed bantamweight world champion since Panama’s Enrique Pinder in 1972 when he beat England’s Paul Butler in December.

AFP