Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue revealed his plan for his next three bouts. After fighting mostly less appealing fighters in the last six years, ‘Monster’ Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs) has finally faced the opposition that people want to see.
At 32, Naoya has to start fighting the quality fighters before he ages out because his last four fights have shown that he’s beginning to fade. The power remains, but he’s not the fighter he was eight years ago.
The Three-Fight Roadmap
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev – in September 2025 in Tokyo. This would have been an easier fight for Inoue if he’d taken it a year or two ago rather than procrastinating.
- Nick Ball – In December, Naoya will challenge Ball for his WBA featherweight title. Fans would prefer that Inoue challenge WBO champion Rafael Espinoza, but he knows his limitations. Espinoza is too big. Inoue will return to the 122-lb division after this fight rather than staying to try and become undisputed champion.
- Junto Nakatani: This might be the easiest of the bunch for Inoue because Nakatani is robotic and not particularly fast.
In Inoue’s last fight against Ramon Cardenas on May 4th, he was knocked down in the second round. If Cardenas had more than a left hook in his arsenal, he’d have given Naoya real problems. However, Inoue took advantage of Cardenas’ limited offensive tools to come back to stop him in the eighth round.
“We’ve seen him get hit with the left hook a couple of times. It was a good shot from Cardenas. I can’t just depend on one punch. I have to throw more punches and in combinations. I am ready to go toe to toe and engage with him. I am prepared for any style that he wants to bring in the fight. We are going to have several game plans to prepare for Inoue,” said Junto Nakatani to The Ring about Naoya Inoue.
Throwing combinations against Inoue is near impossible because he retreats when attacked, and he can only be hit when he comes forward for brief exchanges. Nakatani might be too slow for him to do much against ‘The Monster.’ You never know. Inoue may age a little more from his fights against Akhmadaliev and Ball for him to have a better shot at beating him.