Inoue signed with Ohashi Boxing Gym in 2012 and became a professional boxer. He formed a pact with Hideyuki Ohashi to never compete against easy opponents of his own volition.
He made his debut on October 2, 2012, against Filipino national champion Crison Omayao, and won by fourth-round knockout.
Following this victory, he went on to defeat Thai national champion Ngaoprajan Chuwatana and Japan’s top-ranked light flyweight fighter Yki Sano in his next two fights.
On August 25, 2013, Inoue defeated Ryoichi Taguchi, the WBA’s number three-ranked contender and future WBA, IBF, and Ring magazine light flyweight champion, to win the Japanese light flyweight title.
This was expected to be Inoue’s most difficult test yet, but he eventually overpowered and thrashed Taguchi throughout ten rounds.
On the undercard of Yaegashi-Sosa on December 6, 2013, he fought for the vacant OPBF light flyweight title. Inoue won the regional title by TKO in the fifth round over Jerson Mancio.
Takuma Inoue, his younger brother, had made his professional debut earlier that day with a unanimous decision victory.
Who Is Takuma Inoue?
Takuma Inoue is a professional boxer from Japan. From 2018 to 2019, he held the WBC interim bantamweight title and contended for the full world title in 2019.
After watching his brother compete and win multiple high school championships, he began boxing at an early age. Takuma made his professional debut in 2013, when he was only 18 years old, after a promising amateur career.
Tatsuya Fukuhara, the eventual WBO Minimumweight World Champion, was his first opponent (12-3). Despite being outmanned, Inoue pulled off the upset and won a unanimous decision over the far more experienced boxer.
In the light flyweight division, that was his sole fight. He immediately moved up to flyweight, where he faced Teeraphong Utaida, a worthy opponent (25-2).
The young Japanese prodigy was unfazed by the fact that he had moved up a weight class or gone from 6 to 8 rounds. Takuma proved once again that he was a force to be reckoned with, going the distance and winning yet another match.
Despite being only his fourth fight, Inoue outclassed world championship candidate Nestor Daniel Narvaes (20-2) at super flyweight after knocking out a rookie Chalerm Kotala.
