Naoya Inoue is a monster. He tore through sections with a violence that looks effortless. He became undisputed at 118, unchallenged at 122, and in the eyes of many, the most offensive offensive fighter that is alive. Some sometimes placed him above Terence Crawford on the pound-by-pound list.
But there is a difference between dominance and transcendence. Crawford showed us that. Not only did he gain his weight class; He left it behind, jumped two divisions and took the biggest star of the sport apart. That leap made him from great to immortal.
For inoue, the question is simple. To sit at Crawford’s pound-by-pound table, he has to do the same. He must leave comfort, climb in danger and find his giant. That giant exists. The giant has a name: Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Inoue’s path so far has been destruction. At flyweight he was too sharp. At Super Flyweight, too strong. At Bantamweight, he united and made it look easy. At Super Bantamweight, he repeated the same and cut through champions like Fulton and Tapales with clinical precision.
He mastered every puzzle in front of him. His timing is perfect, his punching ruthless, his calmness unwavering. Within his world he has no rival. But all this, as brilliant as it is, stays within its size. Within his element.
Crawford broke that form. He has shown that true grandeur is not measured by how you dominate peers, but how you do if the chance turns against you. He jumped from welterweight to super -middle weight, gave up every physical and contractual benefit and still torn Canelo álvarez, the face of boxing. This is the leap in the legend.
For inoue to repeat this, he must leave 122. He has to skip past featherweight, past Super Featherweight and climb straight to lightweight. There he will find Tank Davis, the division’s box office king, the puncher that makes crowds roar and bend networks.
This is the Canelo of Inoue. A larger man, a global star, a fighter with knockout in any hand. Beating Tank would not be to win another belt – it would be to use another dimension of greatness. It would be to prove that his skills are not bound by size or ease.
Some people will say that Inoue has done enough – that two undisputed reins on two divisions and four weight classes conquered are in itself history. They are not wrong. But history has levels. Crawford wrote it in ink that no one can wipe out. Inoue, if he wants to sit at the same table, must write his chapter in the same script.
Greatness demands a giant. Crawford found her in Canelo. For Inoue, he has to repeat what Bud has done-because from now on, you have to reach the top of the pound-by-pound list, one must climb Mount Omaha. The mountain he has to face has a name: Gervonta Davis. The history is watching.
Last updated on 09/22/2025
