Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire 1 rewind - Timothy Bradley Jr. breaks down the fight round-by-round

When Naoya Inoue faced Nonito Donaire in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight final in November 2019 to unify two world titles, nobody expected it to be such a back-and-forth battle. Inoue, the younger fighter and one rapidly ascending thepound-for-pound rankings, was coming off eight straight stoppage victories. Donaire had just returned to the 118-pound division after losing to Carl Frampton in a challenge for an interim featherweight belt.

But someone forgot to tell Donaire — who eventually lost a decision to Inoue --that he was still a force to be reckoned with in the division. The fight was so exciting from start to finish that it was named the 2019 ESPN fight of the year.

Almost three years later, Inoue and Donaire will meet again to unify three bantamweight world titles Tuesday in Saitama, Japan (ESPN+, 5:30 a.m. ET, with the main event expected at 8:15 a.m. ET).

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Tuesday, June 7, 5:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+: Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire, 12 rounds, for Inoue's IBF and WBA bantamweight titles and Donaire's WBC bantamweight title

Since the first fight, Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs) has scored KO victories over Jason Moloney, Michael Dasmarinas and Aran Diapen to defend his WBA and IBF titles. Donaire (42-6, 28 KOs) has collected two KO victories in the fourth round, one against Nordine Oubaali to win the WBC belt.

While many experts viewed the first matchup as a possible abrupt end to Donaire's Hall of Fame career, his pride, experience, pugilistic skills and enormous will made the bout a memorable part of boxing's deep history.

What made that fight so memorable? I rewatched the fight and scored it