Japanese celebrity and pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue attended a press convention the day after his stoppage win over TJ Doheny, “The Monster” halting an injured Doheny within the seventh spherical. Now, followers and media are asking Inoue two issues: when will he combat once more, and when will he combat countryman and fellow pound-for-pounder Junto Nakatani?
Inoue, 28-0(25) desires to remain busy, and as he expalined on the presser, he suffered zero injury within the Doheny combat. The phrase from Inoue’s Japanese promoter, Hideyuki Ohashi, is that Inoue will subsequent combat on both December twenty fourth or December twenty sixth. It’s customary for a giant boxing card to happen in Japan on New 12 months’s Eve (and this 12 months, there might be a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez, which is able to headline on the large evening). Japanese combat followers will get two large nights over the festive interval this 12 months.
Whether or not Inoue subsequent packing containers on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, it’s more likely to be in opposition to both Sam Goodman, who’s Inoue’s WBO and IBF necessary, or Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who’s Inoue’s present WBA necessary. Inoue has no desire and is open to preventing both man.
When requested about an all-Japanese tremendous combat (maybe the most important combat in Japanese boxing historical past) between himself and Junto Nakatani, Inoue smiled and mentioned Junto needed to get previous his brother first.
“I want to go ahead with my subsequent combat in December,” Inoue mentioned first. “I’ve had positively no injury [in the Doheny fight]. Earlier than he [Nakatani] strikes as much as combat me, he should combat my brother Takuma. That’s not straightforward as a result of Takuma might be a really robust opponent and a thick wall for Nakatani.”
“The opposite Inoue,” Takuma, is the present WBA bantamweight champion and a expertise in his personal proper. Not as large a puncher as his brother, Takuma is nonetheless boxer, whereas he did shock many people in his combat this February, when he stopped Jerwin Ancajas. Final outing, in Might, the WBA 118-pound champ decisioned Sho Ishida to lodge a second retention. If Takuma does combat Nakatani earlier than “The Monster” does and loses to him, nicely, the tremendous combat between Inoue and Nakatani can be ever greater, with Inoue having the revenge motivation in addition to the need to show who’s the higher fighter general, pound-for-pound.
It’s shaping up as an enormous Monster combat! However what if Takuma Inoue defeats Nakatani? It might occur. Proper now, the whole lot at 118 and 122 kilos is occurring in Japan.
