By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

(Result / May 30, 2026 / El Paso, Texas)

Holly Holm nearly won another championship at the age of 44 but lost a controversial bout in which she outpunch her opponent by 30 punches, and scored with more punches, in 10 of the twelve rounds against Stephanie Han and in the last three rounds, she landed 40 punches to Han 17 punches to finish strong.  The judges had it a majority decision for Han, but I had Holm the winner but that is boxing.

As for the Han fight, Holm stated her case on a recent podcast, “I felt like the first few rounds, it started a little closer, and then I just started to take over and took control of the fight. I felt in control, for the most part. Anything can happen. And obviously, there’s some [punches], like if I pull out [and pull away], and it almost looks worse than what it is. It’s a 10-round fight. It’s not like she didn’t land any shots. I never felt any hard shots that really did a lot, and I know that I was dictating the pace. I know I was the one with more action. I felt like I threw more punches. I know I was in her hometown, but you still have to trust that maybe these judges are going to be professional.”  She was right as Compubox had her landing more punches and the more active fighter. There is a saying in boxing, you must take the crown from the champion and in my view she did.

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

This was a tight fight as Inoue barely defeated Juno Nakatani, a battle between the two best 122-pound fighters but Naoya Inoue found a way to win a close bout. Inoue is now 33 and the question is he still at his peak or on the downside of his career. However, in this fight, Inoue found a way to win a competitive tough fight. Momentum shift. at a crucial part when Nakatani suffered a cut from a head butt and Inoue moved forward to win the last two rounds. Inoue noted, “I fought thinking it would be alright to hold back a little and concede some points. Today, my mental stamina was depleted. That’s how tense the 12 rounds were. It was a technical battle of hitting and missing, hitting, and missing. We were both enjoying it. It was an enjoyable fight.”

Inoue reflected on the fight, “I’m not sure about if this fight means history yet, but in the future, we might think this is the day history was made. My boxing career isn’t at the end. We just finished the fight, so I think I’m going to have great history in the future. I hope I can make history more and more.” 

The fight was in front of 55,000 strong crowd in Tokyo Dome and while the opening rounds were two reluctant warriors feeling each other out but in the fourth round, Inoue used his jab more effectively, and he came on strong in the fifth and sixth round. Nakatani started to counter in the seventh round by hitting combinations. Nakatani’s corner advise him to get more aggressive and let his hands go. Nakatani pushed the issue in the ninth as he faced more precise Inoue movement which kept the rounds close.

In the tenth round, Nakatani suffered a cut following a clash of heads and while it didn’t deter his efforts in the tenth round, Inoue did take advantage in the eleventh round as he ramped up the pressure and landed two big uppercuts with both hands as the blood bothered Nakatani from the cut. The judges scored 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 all in favor of the champion. I had it 115-113. 

Inoue landed 140 punches to 120 for Nakatani over the 12 rounds, maybe two more punches per round and the head butt certainly was a factor in the final two rounds. Inoue is the pound for pound now that Terrance Crawford retired.