Takuma Inoue

Takuma Inoue (井上 拓真) is a Japanese professional boxer who has held the WBA bantamweight title since April 2023.

Mark John Yap (29-12 / 14 KOs) is a veteran of the sport, who has been around for 11 years.

Takuma Inoue (11-0 / 3 KOs) is the younger brother of 4 division world champion, Naoya Inoue.

After showing much promise as an amateur, Takuma made his pro debut in 2013, when he was barely 18 years old.

His first opponent was future WBO Minimumweight World Champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (12-3).

Even though he was outmatched, Inoue managed to pull off the upset and get the unanimous decision over the much more experienced boxer.

That was his only fight in the light flyweight division.

He immediately jumped to flyweight, facing a worthy foe in Teeraphong Utaida (25-2).

Neither the fact that he moved up a weight class nor that he went from 6 to 8 rounds, scared the young Japanese prodigy.

Once again, Takuma proved that he was a force to be reckoned with, going the distance and earning yet another victory.

After knocking out a debuting Chalerm Kotala, Inoue outclassed world title contender Nestor Daniel Narvaes (20-2) at super flyweight, despite that being only his fourth fight.

He defeated Mark Anthony Geraldo to win the OPBF Super flyweight title.

Despite having lost 12 of his 41 fights, he has only been stopped twice, while his last recorded loss is back in 2014.

22-year-old Takuma Inoue is one win away from joining brother Naoya as a world champion after defeating Filipino veteran Mark John Yap to become the WBC bantamweight mandatory challenger.

They were fairly neck-and-neck until Inoue floored Yap with a left hook in the fifth.

From there, Inoue maintained control for the next three rounds and turned aside Yap's late onslaught, which came about when open scoring revealed that he needed a knockdown or knockout to win.

WBC Interim Championship

On 12/30, Takuma Inoue won vacant WBC Interim Title against Petch Sor Chitpattana in Ota City General Gymnasium Japan.

Petch Sor Chitpattana (48-0) holds the most impressive record in the entire division but it has been compiled at the expense of distinctly average opposition.

Takuma Inoue's career has now hit a career-high after winning his first world-level title and has another big fight waiting in the wings.

Inoue earned a unanimous decision (117-111, 117–111, 117–111) to win the interim WBC bantamweight title.

The fight started off with Inoue landing the straight right hand effectively, causing a cut near Chitpattana's right eye.

Throughout the first couple of rounds, Chitpattana's head movement was almost nonexistent, allowing Inoue to let his hands go and take control of the fight early.

Chitpattana did manage to get back and starting landing punches, some to the body, but was still outmatched by Inoue.

Takuma's sound skills and technique, earned him his first championship when he fought Mark Anthony Geraldo (31-6), for the vacant OPBF Super Flyweight title, in 2015.

At the time, he was just 19 years old.

Before the year was over, he successfully defended the belt against Rene Dacquel (15-5).

In 2016, Takuma beat Filipino stand out Froilan Saludar (23-1*) at the Sky Arena in Japan, before moving up to bantamweight.

Saludar managed to drop him early in the opening round but Inoue returned the favor in the later rounds.

The Japanese fighter was set to face Marlon Tapales (29-2) for the WBO Bantamweight World Title on December of the same year.

Unfortunately, bad luck stroke Inoue as he fractured his hand in training, thus withdrawing from his one and only world title fight to date.

Inoue made his return in August 2017, in an epic war with 4-time world title challenger Hiroyuki Kudaka (25-16).

Both men went back and forth for 10 rounds, exchanging shots and stealing the show.

Takuma remained unbeaten and proved that he was back and stronger than ever.

He went on to defeat former Japanese champion Kentaro Masuda (27-8) and Indonesian journeyman Waldo Sabu (12-11).

Now back in the world title picture, his next fight could be the one he needs to finally compete for the big one.

WBC Eliminator

On September 11, Takuma Inoue squared off with Mark John Yap for an opportunity at the WBC Bantamweight World Championship.

He previously held the WBC interim bantamweight title from 2018 to 2019, and challenged for the full world title in 2019.

He started boxing from a very young age, after watching his brother competing, winning several high school championships.