“There are only a few monsters who warrant the concern that now we have of them.” -French creator André Gide.
Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KO) stands at 5 toes, 5 inches tall and weighs 122 pounds- although his nickname “The Monster” offers away the ferocity of his punching energy. Inoue is the highest pound-for-pound boxer on the earth within the eyes of many observers and is the golden goose of the decrease weight courses.
Earlier this week, Inoue defeated TJ Doheny through technical knockout within the seventh spherical in Tokyo, Japan, when Doheny couldn’t proceed after taking a physique shot. The struggle lasted longer than many speculated, however Inoue confirmed off some improved defensive expertise towards the artful veteran Doheny.
Inoue defended his undisputed tremendous bantamweight championship; he’s the one undisputed 122-pound champion within the historical past of boxing. He’s additionally the primary Japanese boxer to be rated #1 pound-for-pound by Ring Journal (first printed in 1922). How did Naoya Inoue develop into essentially the most feared boxer on the earth?
Inoue had a formidable novice file of 75-6 (48 KO), and his first skilled struggle was on October 2nd, 2012. It didn’t take lengthy for Inoue to achieve the head of boxing. At age twenty, Inoue grew to become the sunshine flyweight (108-pound restrict) champion in his sixth professional struggle in April 2014. Later that yr, Inoue moved to the 112-pound weight class to problem Omar Narváez for his junior bantamweight title. Narváez had been champion for fourteen years and had efficiently defended his title twenty-seven instances. Inoue knocked Narváez down twice within the first sixty-one seconds of the struggle and ended it inside two rounds. With the win, Inoue grew to become a two-division champion eight fights into his profession.
Inoue defeated Corridor of Famer Nonito Donaire by determination in 2019’s Struggle of the 12 months, regardless of struggling a fractured orbital bone within the second spherical plus a damaged nostril. For good measure, he received a 2022 rematch with Donaire by knockout in two rounds.
After defeating Donaire for the second time, Inoue knocked out Paul Butler within the eleventh spherical to develop into the undisputed bantamweight champion. The Monster grew to become the primary man to unify all of the 118-pound titles since Enrique Pinder in 1972.
In opposition to Luis Nery, in his final struggle earlier than defeating Doheny, Inoue suffered his first profession knockdown within the first spherical. Nonetheless, he did knock Nery down 3 times en path to a sixth-round victory.
For viewers in the USA, Inoue and Doheny heard the bell ring to begin spherical one at 7:34 A.M. Jap Time. Inoue has fought exterior of Japan simply 4 instances in his skilled profession. In September 2017, he defended his tremendous flyweight championship towards Antonio Nieves in Carson, California. Then, in Might 2019, for a semifinal matchup within the World Boxing Tremendous Sequence Bantamweight Event, Inoue traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, and knocked out Emmanuel Rodriguez in two rounds wherein Inoue additionally captured the Ring Journal World Bantamweight Title.
After signing with High Rank Promotions, Inoue fought two consecutive instances in Las Vegas. He knocked out Jason Molony in October 2020 and Michael Dasmarinas in June 2021. These two fights lacked the normal Vegas ambiance since they occurred in the course of the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Inoue has reached a degree the place he doesn’t must struggle exterior Japan. There isn’t any monetary incentive with the struggle purses and income from the reside gates in Japan. And because the acknowledged finest pound-for-pound fighter on the earth, any prime challenger will come to Japan.
Nonetheless, after Inoue defeated Doheny, Bob Arum stated Inoue would have a conventional end-of-the-year struggle in Japan earlier than combating in the USA in 2025. Inoue has indicated that he wish to have a couple of extra fights at super-bantamweight earlier than a possible transfer as much as the 126-pound weight restrict of the light-weight division. That will give The Monster time to acclimate to being at 122 kilos. On condition that Inoue grew to become the undisputed champion at 122 kilos simply 377 days after unifying the 118-pound division, it’s comprehensible. The Monster continues to be human, in any case.
There was some on-line chatter about Naoya Inoue doubtlessly going through light-weight champion Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KO). Each males stand at 5 toes, 5 inches tall, and have knockout energy. However for Inoue, who began within the 108-pound weight division, to come back up from tremendous bantamweight to light-weight is insane. Asking Inoue to maneuver from the tremendous bantamweight division, over featherweight, over junior light-weight, and as much as the 135-pound weight class to struggle a person as harmful as Gervonta Davis solely is smart in a online game. Some followers have referred to Gervonta Davis as a weight bully; if Inoue-Davis ever takes place, Gervonta would develop into a weight authoritarian.
A struggle with bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KO) may very well be on the horizon for Inoue. Inoue vs. Nakatani would pit the 2 finest boxers in Japan towards one another. A struggle within the Tokyo Dome may see no less than 50,000 spectators and could be an enormous occasion.
If Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KO), present junior bantamweight (115-pound) division champion, and Naoya Inoue confronted one another, it will be an unimaginable struggle. Rodriguez and Inoue are two old-school fighters who care about their legacies and what boxing followers need to see relatively than cherry-picking secure opponents. An Inoue-Rodriguez struggle at a 118 or 118.5-pound catchweight could be a barnburner, the most important struggle doable on the decrease weight courses.
What comes subsequent for “The Monster” Naoya Inoue stays to be seen. We are able to solely hope Inoue faces prime opponents as he continues to dominate the lower-weight courses. Boxing followers will hope to get a glimpse of The Monster in the USA.
Monsters will not be actual, however sadly, for boxers campaigning on the decrease weight courses, Nayoa Inoue very a lot is.
