The monster continues its momentum

“There are very few monsters that justify the fear we have of them.” -French writer André Gide.

Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KO) stands at 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 122 pounds — though his nickname “The Monster” gives away the ferocity of his punching power. Inoue is the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world in the eyes of many observers and is the golden goose of the lower weight classes.

Earlier this week, Inoue defeated TJ Doheny via TKO in the 7th round in Tokyo, Japan when Doheny was unable to continue after taking a body shot. The fight lasted longer than many speculated, but Inoue showed some improved defensive skills against the slick veteran Doheny.

Inoue defended his undisputed super bantamweight championship; he is the only undisputed 122-pound champion in the history of boxing. He is also the first Japanese boxer to be ranked #1 pound-for-pound by Ring Magazine (first published in 1922). How did Naoya Inoue become the most feared boxer in the world?

Inoue had an impressive amateur record of 75-6 (48 KO) and his first professional fight was on October 2, 2012. It didn’t take long for Inoue to reach the pinnacle of boxing. At the age of twenty, Inoue became the light flyweight (108 pound limit) champion in his sixth pro fight in April 2014. Later that year, Inoue moved up to the 112 pound weight class to challenge Omar Narváez for his junior bantamweight title. Narváez was champion for fourteen years and successfully defended his title twenty-seven times. Inoue knocked Narváez down twice in the first sixty-one seconds of the fight, ending it within two rounds. With the win, Inoue became a two-division champion eight fights into his career.

Inoue defeated Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire by decision in 2019’s Fight of the Year despite suffering a broken orbital bone in the second round plus a broken nose. For good measure, he won a 2022 rematch with Donaire by knockout in two rounds.

After defeating Donaire for the second time, Inoue knocked out Paul Butler in the 11th round to become the undisputed bantamweight champion. The Monster became the first man to unify all 118-pound titles since Enrique Pinder in 1972.

Against Luis Nery, in his last fight before defeating Doheny, Inoue suffered his first career knockout in the first round. However, he knocked Nery down three times en route to a victory in the sixth round.

For viewers in the United States, Inoue and Doheny heard the bell ring to start round one at 7:34 a.m. Eastern Time. Inoue has only fought four times in his professional career outside of Japan. In September 2017, he defended his super flyweight championship against Antonio Nieves in Carson, California. Then, in May 2019, for a semi-final in the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight tournament, Inoue traveled to Glasgow, Scotland and knocked out Emmanuel Rodriguez in two rounds in which Inoue also captured the Ring Magazine World Bantamweight title.

After signing with Top Rank Promotions, Inoue fought two consecutive times in Las Vegas. He beat Jason Molony in October 2020 and Michael Dasmarinas in June 2021. These two fights lacked the traditional Vegas atmosphere as they took place during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Inoue has reached a point where he doesn’t need to fight outside of Japan. There is no financial incentive with the fight purses and income from the live gates in Japan. And as the acknowledged best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, any top challenger will come to Japan.

However, after Inoue defeated Doheny, Bob Arum said that Inoue would have a traditional end-of-the-year fight in Japan before fighting in the United States in 2025. Inoue has indicated that he would like a few more fights at super-bantamweight before a potential move up to the 126-pound weight limit of the lightweight division. This would give The Monster time to adjust to 122 pounds. Given that Inoue became the undisputed champion at 122 pounds just 377 days after unifying the 118-pound division, that’s understandable. The Monster is still human after all.

There has been some chatter online about Naoya Inoue possibly facing lightweight champion Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KO). Both men stand at five feet, five inches tall, and have knockout power. But for Inoue, who started out in the 108-pound weight division, to come up from super bantamweight to lightweight is insane. Asking Inoue to move from the super bantamweight division, over featherweight, over junior lightweight and up to the 135 pound weight class to fight a man as dangerous as Gervonta Davis only makes sense in a video game. Some fans have referred to Gervonta Davis as a weight bully; if Inoue-Davis ever happens, Gervonta would become a weight authoritarian.

A fight with bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KO) could be on the horizon for Inoue. Inoue vs. Nakatani would pit the two best boxers in Japan against each other. A fight in the Tokyo Dome could see at least 50,000 spectators and would be a massive event.

If Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KO), current junior bantamweight (115 pound) division champion, and Naoya Inoue faced each other, it would be an incredible fight. Rodriguez and Inoue are two old-school fighters who care about their legacy and what boxing fans want to see rather than picking safe opponents. An Inoue-Rodriguez fight at a catchweight of 118 or 118.5 pounds would be a barn burner, the biggest fight possible at the lower weight classes.

What comes next for “The Monster” Naoya Inoue remains to be seen. We can only hope that Inoue faces top opponents as he continues to dominate the lower weight classes. Boxing fans will be hoping to catch a glimpse of The Monster in the United States.

Monsters aren’t real, but unfortunately Nayoa Inoue is a lot for boxers campaigning at the lower weight classes.