Bob Arum is backing Naoya Inoue to win on Saturday, which isn’t a shock given their long business ties, but he also made it clear that he doesn’t see the fight as the one-sided contest that the betting odds suggest.
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Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) defends his undisputed 122-pound titles against Junto Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) at the Tokyo Dome in a fight billed as the biggest in Japanese boxing history, with around 55,000 expected. Both fighters are undefeated and sit near the top of most pound-for-pound lists, giving the fight a level of credibility that doesn’t need much sales work.
“Nakatani is a tremendous fighter who is very skilled and has a lot of punching power. But Inoue looks to me like a generation fighter and one of the best fighters out there. He can box, he can punch, he can punch, and he’s very smart,” Arum told The Ring. “If I had to bet, I’d take Inoue.”
Where Arum did break from the promotional script was on the betting. Inoue is listed around a -400 favorite, with Nakatani at +300, and Arum said that number doesn’t match the reality of the game.
“The fight isn’t as wide as the oddsmakers have it. Maybe it’s a 3/2 fight. The line is determined by the reputation Inoue has gotten over the years. Not that he shouldn’t be the favorite. He should be. But not by that much of a margin.
“Inoue getting older is an obvious concern as he continues to fight. 32 is just a number, and it depends on the individual. So far, I haven’t seen any slippage for Inoue.”
Arum said Top Rank still has involvement with both fighters on the American side after years of working with them, which adds another layer to his view. He’s not neutral here, even if he’s admitted the fight is closer than the odds suggest.
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Last updated on 2026/05/01 at 11:18
