Promoter Bob Arum says what he has been seeing in the ring from Japanese star Naoya Inoue is “scary.” The Top Rank boss spoke with members of the media, as filmed by Fight Hub, and Arum said the late, great Salvador Sanchez was a great fighter who “maybe had that ability.” It’s tough as can be to compare fighters from different eras, as we know, but Arum showers Inoue with immense praise in saying he has “never seen a fighter of that size perform the way he has.”
Arum loves the fact that Inoue takes his opposition out, almost every time he gets in the ring.
“It’s scary what I’m seeing,” Arum said of the currently 26-0(23) Inoue. “He so overwhelms his opponents, really good opponents. I’ve never seen a fighter of that size perform the way he has. Maybe a Salvador Sanchez had that ability, but even then he didn’t win all his fights by knockout. Inoue goes into these fights, he boxes these guys and then he knocks them out. What we’re seeing in Inoue is something really special.”
Speaking of Sanchez, we of course never got the chance to see how great the Mexican featherweight would have become, Sanchez tragically being killed in a road accident at the age of just 23. Maybe Sanchez would have gone on to win belts at other weights if he had lived, the way Inoue has gone through the weight classes? Inoue is certainly really special, as Arum says.
Inoue turned 31 this week, and he might be at his absolute peak right now. How much more this dynamic, incredibly skilled and gifted fighter can go on to achieve we just don’t know. Already a four division champion, Inoue has never, ever come close to losing a fight. Next up it will be Mexican warrior Luis Nery. Nery, who will not have liked hearing Arum compare Inoue to his countryman Sanchez, said recently that Inoue is “overrated” and “ordinary.”
Nobody else has ever said this, and it is entirely possible Nery had his game face on, this some weeks ahead of the fight. And maybe Nery has to convince himself Inoue is not as great as we all know he is, this if he’s to believe he has a real chance of beating him.
But Arum, who has seen so many fighters do their thing over the years, doesn’t seem to think anyone can stop Inoue. And maybe they can’t. The way he’s going, Inoue will soon be featuring in Dream Fight scenarios, where writers try and suggest how he would have faired with the all-time greats. Can anyone in the real world ever hope to defeat Inoue?
Not unless Inoue either goes up too far in weight or if age catches up with him.