Naoya Inoue steps up sparring for WBSS final

Last week the WBSS finally announced the date of the Bantamweight final, between Naoya Inoue (18-0, 16) [井上 尚弥] and Nonito Donaire (40-5, 26), which will take place on November 7th at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Today we saw various small stories emerge in regards to the bout, including the fact that their will some tickets made available through the Ohashi Gym lottery system and the arena is not expected to hold it's maximum capacity, instead being configured for around 22,500 seats.

​What was more interesting than the ticket lottery was what Inoue was doing in to prepare for the bout, sparring with two solid Filipino fighters as he looked to amp up his preparations for the November bout.

​The Filipino fighters in question were the unbeaten Jade Borena (14-0, 10) and the under-rated Jhon Gemino (20-12-1, 10), who will both bring different things to the ring to test Inoue.

In front of the press today Inoue took part in a 4 round spar with Bornea , showing fantastic crispness to his shots, notably his left hand to the body and left hook.

Gemino and Bornea, who holds a a very notable amateur win over Kosei Tanaka, are scheduled to be in camp with Inoue for around 2 weeks, likely sparring with other Ohashi gym fighters whilst in Japan, before an American is due to join Inoue as he looks to see more styles and more partners in the ring.

(Image credit - Nikkan Sports)