Japan’s Naoya Inoue retained his two bantamweight belts and affirmed his standing as boxing’s No. 2 fighter Saturday night with a third-round stoppage of the Philippines’ Michael Dasmarinas at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
With champions Nonito Donaire and John Riel Casimero in attendance, three-division champion Inoue (21-0, 18 KOs) stopped Dasmarinas with a vicious left hand to the right side. He had knocked him down twice previously with lookalike blows.
Inoue will now watch Donaire and Casimero stage an Aug. 14 unification of their respective WBC and WBO belts in Carson, Calif., and seek the winner by early 2022.
Also Saturday, WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo retained his belt with a unanimous-decision victory over Juan Montiel in Houston.
