Naoya Inoue-Nonito Donaire is the 2019 fight of the year; what was the best KO and round?
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Through its first two seasons, the World Boxing Super Series has consistently produced exciting, high-stakes fights between elite combatants in four different divisions.
But the most exciting of all -- and for enormous stakes -- came Nov. 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Japanese favorite Naoya Inoue, the pound-for-pound-ranked star who has won world titles in three weight classes, clashed with Nonito Donaire, a future Hall of Famer who has won titles in four divisions, in what unexpectedly turned out to be the 2019 fight of the year.
Inoue, 26, came into the bantamweight title unification bout having stormed through his first two fights of the tournament in less than three rounds, stopping Juan Carlos Payano and Emmanuel Rodriguez. Inoue was a significant favorite against the 37-year-old Donaire, who had dropped down in weight to enter the field. Donaire won a title in the quarterfinals when favored Ryan Burnett suffered a freak injury in the fourth round and had to retire from the bout. Donaire then scored a brutal knockout of overmatched Stephon Young in the semifinals. Young was a late replacement for Zolani Tete, who suffered a shoulder injury days before the fight.
Inoue-Donaire was expected to be a coronation of "The Monster," but "The Filipino Flash" gave Inoue the most demanding fight of his career.
It was a mesmerizing, punishing battle from start to finish between two master boxers whose inclination is to stand and fight. They dispensed with the sweet science and rumbled in an enthralling and superb fight, which Inoue won 117-109, 116-111 and 114-113 on the scorecards -- but not before he had to overcome tremendous adversity for the first time in his career.
Donaire (40-6, 26 KOs) opened a cut over Inoue's right eye with a clean left hook in the second round, and it caused him problems for the rest of the fight. Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) said he had double vision thereafter and he also suffered a fractured orbital bone and nose in the second or third round. But Inoue fought through the problems and repeatedly rocked Donaire with right hands.
Then came the epic 11th round, which featured massive momentum swings and included Inoue dropping Donaire with a left to the body and nearly finishing him before Donaire stormed back to hurt Inoue. Before the round was over, Inoue turned the tables and nearly dropped Donaire again. Then they slugged it out again in the 12th round to conclude an unforgettable fight.
Other memorable fights
2. Errol Spence Jr. W12 Shawn Porter (Sept. 28 at Staples Center, Los Angeles): One of the year's most significant showdowns easily met the hype when Spence and Porter met to unify their welterweight world titles. The fight turned into an all-out slugfest in the third round and never let up. Spence, who scored a stunning knockdown with a left hand in the tremendous 11th round, would ultimately eke out a split decision.
3. Gennadiy Golovkin W12 Sergiy Derevyanchenko (Oct. 5 at Madison Square Garden, New York): GGG won a vacant middleweight belt by the slimmest of margins -- many had Derevyanchenko winning -- but nobody could dispute that this was an absolutely savage fight, perhaps the hardest of Golovkin's glorious career. Even though GGG scored a first-round knockdown and badly cut Derevyanchenko in the second round, he was pushed to the limit.
4. Sergey Lipinets TKO10 Lamont Peterson (March 24 at MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland): Former world titleholders Lipinets and Peterson, vying for a possible title shot, put on an absolutely grinding, physical, back-and-forth welterweight battle not for the faint of heart, until Lipinets dropped hometown favorite Peterson in the 10th round. After that knockdown, Peterson's corner threw in the towel and he announced his retirement.
Rafael's fights of the year
2019:
Naoya Inoue UD12 Nonito Donaire
2018:
Jarrett Hurd SD12 Erislandy Lara
2017:
Anthony Joshua TKO11 Wladimir Klitschko
2016:
Francisco Vargas D12 Orlando Salido
2015:
Francisco Vargas TKO9 Takashi Miura
2014:
Franciso Rodriguez Jr. W12 Katsunari Takayama
2013:
Timothy Bradley Jr. W12 Ruslan Provodnikov
2012:
Juan Manuel Marquez KO6 Manny Pacquiao (IV)
2011: Akira Yaegashi TKO10 Pornsawan Porpramook
2010: Humberto Soto W12 Urbano Antillon
2009: Juan Manuel Marquez KO9 Juan Diaz 1
2008: Israel Vazquez W12 Rafael Marquez 3
2007: Israel Vazquez TKO6 Rafael Marquez 2
2006: Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mahyar Monshipour
2005: Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo 1
2004: Marco Antonio Barrera W12 Erik Morales 3
2003: Arturo Gatti W10 Micky Ward 3
2002: Micky Ward W10 Arturo Gatti 1
2001: Micky Ward W10 Emanuel Burton
2000: Felix Trinidad TKO12 Fernando Vargas
5. Daniel Roman W12 TJ Doheny (April 26 at The Forum, Inglewood, California): Roman and Doheny gave everything they had in this incredibly fierce back-and-forth junior featherweight title unification fight. Roman, fighting in his hometown, pounded Doheny's body throughout the fight and dropped him with left hooks to the head in the second and 11th rounds. Doheny nearly dropped Roman in the seventh round, but ultimately, Roman won by split decision.
6. Julian Williams W12 Jarrett Hurd (May 11, EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia): In a dramatic battle, mandatory challenger Williams, fighting in Hurd's home region, dropped him with a clean left hook in the second round of a fight that had unrelenting and hellacious action. It ended with Williams winning a unanimous decision to take the unified title from Hurd, who had previously unified two belts by winning the 2018 fight of the year.
7. Jose Ramirez TKO6 Maurice Hooker (July 27 at College Park Center, Arlington, Texas): The undefeated junior welterweight titleholders met to unify their belts on Hooker's turf in a high-stakes showdown that more than lived up to the hype. It was an action-packed, toe-to-toe brawl that Ramirez led 48-46 on two scorecards, with the third 47-47, going into the sixth round, when Ramirez ended the memorable fight with a barrage of unanswered punches.
8. Josh Taylor W12 Regis Prograis (Oct. 26 at O2 Arena, London): The undefeated junior welterweight titleholders met to unify their belts in a very worthy final of the World Boxing Super Series, which Taylor won by majority decision. Both men elevated themselves in this classic fight -- one Prograis nearly pulled out with a 12th-round onslaught -- that was waged at the highest level.
9. Artur Beterbiev TKO10 Oleksandr Gvozdyk (Oct. 18 at Liacouras Center, Philadelphia): There had never been a light heavyweight world title unification fight between undefeated titleholders until Beterbiev and Gvozdyk, both Olympians, clashed in a terrific fight that was close and exciting all the way until the more powerful Beterbiev scored three knockdowns for the stoppage in the 10th round.
10. Alfredo Angulo W10 Peter Quillin (Sept. 21 at Rabobank Theater, Bakersfield, California): Although they are in the twilight of their nearly 15-year careers, Angulo and Quillin, each in need of a notable victory, showed they possess enormous heart and determination as they waged a ferocious all-action super middleweight battle that Angulo, who rocked Quillin several times but could not drop him, won by split decision.
. Benavidez? 
. Mean Machine? We just watched him stink up the joint earlier this year. Crawford absolutely need to run it with Porter because i mean...who else realistically is he gonna fight on Top Rank that's better?!?!?!
