This should be a very solid domestic fight between Kurihara who is on a good run of form and Inoue who recently challenged for a world title. The fight is over twelve rounds for Kurihara’s OPBF bantamweight title.
Takuma Inoue is good technically but lacks the punching power of his brother. His defence is solid and he doesn’t do anything massively wrong. He does possess a bit more power than his record suggests and that could come into play in this fight.
Keita Kurihara is very much the epitome of a kill or be killed fighter. Hes aggressive and gives almost no thought to defence which is why hes won by knockout 13 times out of 15 wins. He’s also been stopped three times out of his five losses though has been on a good run since a loss to Hiroaki Teshigawara in 2017 which is no shame as Teshigawara is a solid contender at the weight above.
I think Takuma Inoue most likely wins a decision or a late stoppage as he should be able to pick Kurihara apart with his superior technical skills. Kurihara’s style leaves him very open so even Inoue who isn’t much of a puncher will have opportunities to drop and potentially stop him. I don’t think Kurihara has world level power so I’d be surprised if he could stop Inoue who has shown a good chin.
Boxing Fulcrum 