Ohashi world champions take part in press conference; Amazon Prime viewing figure a huge hit!
Yesater at the Tokyo Dome, we had one of, if not the, biggest show of the year, and a show that finished with 3 world champions from the Ohashi Gym, with WBA Bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5) [井上拓真], WBO Bantamweight Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8) [武居由樹 and Super Bantamweight kingping Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24) [井上尚弥]. Today the three men, alongside promoter, Hideyuki Ohashi, and trainers Akira Yaegashi and Shingo Inoue, took part in a press conference at the Ohashi Gym in Yokohama.
Speaking about the event, Naoya stated “I was satisfied with the content up to the sixth round, including the knockdown in the first round. It was a day that will go down in history.” Regarding the knockdown the Monster explained “I was in a blind spot and couldn't see it” and explained that “seconds matter” when he was down on the canvas, for what was the first knock down of his career. Asked whether Nery was the toughest bout of his career, he explained “I can't say he's the toughest. I thought he had more power. I had the impression that there were a lot of openings, and I was right”.
As for Takuma, he seemed to be turning his attention to the future, “We will do our best to overcome the challenges and become stronger in preparation for the unification match”. As for the bout with Ishida he spoke about what happened after the knockdown “We were able to recover the points calmly and surely”.
With both Inoue brothers being dropped in the first round of their bouts there were some apologies, and Shingo suggested they were in trouble, and Takuma admitted his heart stopped for a second when his brother was down.
As for Takei, who won a world title in just his 9th professional bout, he explained “ never imagined that I would win by decision, but rather that I would win by landing one punch somewhere, but I think Maloney's technique was amazing as he was having a hard time letting me land the punches I wanted to land”. His trainer, Yaegashi, stated “I think his boxing has improved day by day since the fight was decided until yesterday, and he has become able to score points in the judging. Above all, he has become able to hit one-twos. That is his growth. That's why I think I was able to get points and win because of that growth.”
Interestingly Takei revealed he had been doing 10 round spars with Naoya Inoue to prepare for Moloney and they had left him “the most beaten up I've ever had in my martial arts career”. The was references to Takei ending sparring much like he had ended the bout with Moloney, and it’s clear that, whilst he is now a world champion, there is still a lot of improvement needed for him. Saying that however, he is the first K1 world champion to also win a boxing title, and doing so in just 9 boxing bouts is highly impressive.
Despite Takuma mentioning unification, it’s worth noting that Ohashi seemed to distance the idea for now, with “no talk of a unification match at all so far.” Staying with Ohashi, he confirmed the plan was for Naoya to defend his throne against IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (18-0, 8) in September, there was no indication of where that bout would be, or whether Takuma or Takei would also be on the card.
One other take away from the show, was the viewing figures. Details shared by Amazon Prime in Japan, stating the peak audience for the show was a record for them. They stated that the viewership beat the previous record set in the final match of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Japan and the United States, which saw the baseball crazy Japan beating the USA 3-2, with global star Shohei Otani playing a major role.
Speaking about the event, Naoya stated “I was satisfied with the content up to the sixth round, including the knockdown in the first round. It was a day that will go down in history.” Regarding the knockdown the Monster explained “I was in a blind spot and couldn't see it” and explained that “seconds matter” when he was down on the canvas, for what was the first knock down of his career. Asked whether Nery was the toughest bout of his career, he explained “I can't say he's the toughest. I thought he had more power. I had the impression that there were a lot of openings, and I was right”.
As for Takuma, he seemed to be turning his attention to the future, “We will do our best to overcome the challenges and become stronger in preparation for the unification match”. As for the bout with Ishida he spoke about what happened after the knockdown “We were able to recover the points calmly and surely”.
With both Inoue brothers being dropped in the first round of their bouts there were some apologies, and Shingo suggested they were in trouble, and Takuma admitted his heart stopped for a second when his brother was down.
As for Takei, who won a world title in just his 9th professional bout, he explained “ never imagined that I would win by decision, but rather that I would win by landing one punch somewhere, but I think Maloney's technique was amazing as he was having a hard time letting me land the punches I wanted to land”. His trainer, Yaegashi, stated “I think his boxing has improved day by day since the fight was decided until yesterday, and he has become able to score points in the judging. Above all, he has become able to hit one-twos. That is his growth. That's why I think I was able to get points and win because of that growth.”
Interestingly Takei revealed he had been doing 10 round spars with Naoya Inoue to prepare for Moloney and they had left him “the most beaten up I've ever had in my martial arts career”. The was references to Takei ending sparring much like he had ended the bout with Moloney, and it’s clear that, whilst he is now a world champion, there is still a lot of improvement needed for him. Saying that however, he is the first K1 world champion to also win a boxing title, and doing so in just 9 boxing bouts is highly impressive.
Despite Takuma mentioning unification, it’s worth noting that Ohashi seemed to distance the idea for now, with “no talk of a unification match at all so far.” Staying with Ohashi, he confirmed the plan was for Naoya to defend his throne against IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (18-0, 8) in September, there was no indication of where that bout would be, or whether Takuma or Takei would also be on the card.
One other take away from the show, was the viewing figures. Details shared by Amazon Prime in Japan, stating the peak audience for the show was a record for them. They stated that the viewership beat the previous record set in the final match of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Japan and the United States, which saw the baseball crazy Japan beating the USA 3-2, with global star Shohei Otani playing a major role.