Undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue furthered his claim to the pound-for-pound throne with a second defence of all four belts at 122lbs earlier this week. As fans begin to critique just how far the Japanese sensation can go, there is a new world champion who hopes he can secure a meeting with ‘The Monster’ and possibly end Inoue’s rise through the weight-classes.
Inoue began his career at light-flyweight and has now become both a four-division world champion and just one of three men to have held the undisputed title in multiple weight classes since the beginning of the four-belt era. At super-bantamweight, Inoue appears to be at his best and his now getting the recognition that he deserves, with knockout wins over Stephen Fulton, Marlon Tapales seeing him crowned as the 2023 Fighter of the Year.
Following on from a stoppage win over Luis Nery in May, Inoue scored a ninth consecutive win inside the distance as TJ Doheny withdrew from their battle in the seventh-round due to an injury – although it should be noted that a knockout seemed to be pending at that point.
Now, with most of the super-bantamweight contenders being cleaned out and only Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Sam Goodman being linked with Inoue, many are hoping that Inoue will progress to the featherweight division in 2025.
Should he decide to do so, he should have difficulty in finding a willing opponent, as newly crowned IBF featherweight title-holder Angelo Leo called for the fight in an interview with Boxing Social, four weeks after a knockout of the year contender against Luis Alberto Lopez in an upset win.
“Yeah, definitely, of course I would like that fight. Hopefully we could make it here in the U.S. but yeah it is something that I would like to do.
I think that Inoue is pound-for-pound one of the best right now and I would love the opportunity to fight him to showcase my skills and showcase the fighter that I am, against him.”
“It is in the fighter’s nature to [analyse Inoue’s mistakes rather than skills]. I do see him for what he is and I do appreciate his style when he fights and all of that. He is a great fighter and I take nothing away from him but as a fighter I am in this game and it is a competitive sport, so I will do anything that I possibly can to find any flaws that I can on him.”
Much to the delight of Leo, Inoue’s promoter Bob Arum declared that his fighter will return to fight in Tokyo in December before fighting in the United States for the fight time since 2021, during a post-fight interview after the Doheny win.
Whether that comeback to the States will represent a debut in the featherweight division remains to be seen, but the fact that three of the four world champions regularly fight across the pond will raise hopes that Inoue could make the move to 126lbs in two fights’ time.
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