Fresh off another impressive stoppage win, Naoya Inoue is now being lined up for a historic fight in the UK later this year according to reports.
This week, ‘The Monster’ defended his undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super-bantamweight world titles against Mexican Luis Nery. He faced an early setback in the match when he experienced his first career knockdown in the opening round.
However, he demonstrated his resilience and came back in characteristic fashion to secure a knockout victory in front of a packed crowd of 55,000 at the Tokyo Dome – the same legendary venue in which Buster Douglas infamous upset Mike Tyson 34 years ago.
Inoue wasted no time regaining control of the fight, dominating from the second round onwards. He stunned Mexican opponent Nery with a powerful left hook, setting the tone for the remainder of the bout.
By the fourth round, Inoue was in full command, even taunting Nery. In the fifth round, he delivered another punishing left hook, sending Nery to the canvas once more, then stopped him once and for all in the sixth.
Now, this next contest could be at none other than Wembley Stadium in the UK in September with Saudi Arabia’s boxing chief Turki Alalshikh reportedly looking to be the man to make it happen.
It is Yahoo in Japan that is making the claim, which has been translated and summarised by talkSPORT, who claim that Inoue has already been sent an offer for a defence of his word titles as part of the rumoured Saudi backed Riyadh Season card that is to be headlined by British former two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on September 20 or 21.
The Yahoo article later adds that Saudi Arabian government officials will be visiting Japan later this month in order to finalise the potential deal, while a fight in Saudi Arabia or the Es Con Field Hokkaido, with is where the Japanese baseball side Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters play, are also potential venues.
It is estimated that Inoue banked around $3.8 million for his recent win over Nery and that the Saudi’s are lining up an offer in the region of $10m.
Inoue has not fought outside his homeland for three years and has never boxed in England, although he did take on Emmanuel Rodriguez in Glasgow on his way to winning the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight trophy in May 2019.
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