Naoya Inoue scored his 18th professional victory and 16th via knockout at the 1:19 mark in the second round as he defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) World Bantamweight Title for the second time with a win over Emmanuel Rodriguez.

The fight took place at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, and was a semifinal bout in the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) for bantamweights, with Inoue coming in as the second seed in the tournament.

The fight was Inoues first in the tournament to go past the first round, as Rodriguez came out pressing the fight heavily, but Inoue would punish Rodriguez heavily in the second round as he knocked him down three times before the referee called an end to the bout.

Inoue continues to impress all boxing fans, as he came into the fight with similar destructions of longtime reigning WBA champion Jamie McDonnell in May of last year followed by Juan Carlos Payano in October of last year.

Inoue now looks to face Nonito Donaire in the final round of the World Boxing Super Series, who was onsite in Glasgow and came into the ring to praise Inoue after his impressive performance, with both fighters showing respect for one another and excited to square off in the final round to take home the WBA Title Belt as well as the Muhammad Ali Trophy.