Update: Here’s some great news, according to Top Rank, regarding the Naoya Inoue-Murodjon Akhmadaliev fight that will take place in Japan on Sunday (in the early hours US time, and just after lunchtime UK time). The fight will be exclusively streamed live by Top Rank’s Facebook page, this along with the undercard bouts.
For a while there, we fans were genuinely worried this fight – a potential classic, with “The Monster” defending his four super-bantamweight titles against a man who some say is one of the Japanese superstar’s most dangerous challengers – would not be televised anywhere in either the UK or the US.
Fight Time and Streaming Details
Now, fans will get the opportunity to catch the action thanks to the folks at Top Rank. The stream will begin at 4:00 a.m. ET (US) and 9:00 a.m. UK time. The main event is expected to take place at around 6:40 a.m. ET (11:40 a.m. UK time).
So, sanity has prevailed and this fight will be seen by the millions of fans it deserves to be seen by. Inoue, 30-0(27), will be making his third appearance of the year, while “MJ,” as the 14-1(11) Akhmadaliev is known, has been calling for his shot at Inoue for some months.
What to Expect in the Ring
With some good judges looking at this fight as pretty much a 50-50 affair (and when did we ever say that about an Inoue fight?), fans are braced for something special.
Inoue is the pick to win here, but it might not be easy; even if Inoue, now aged 32, is so great, so special, he can make a fight look easy. Don’t be surprised to see both men get hurt, maybe even knocked down in this one. Inoue, though, will do what he always does, and that’s find a way to win in explosive fashion.
Pick: Inoue by late stoppage.
