ORLANDO, Florida – Among all of boxing’s conundrums, the case of Murodjon “M.J.” Akhmadaliev and how he can get a fight with Naoya Inoue is high on the list of the most perplexing.
Former unified junior featherweight titleholder Akhmadaliev, 13-1 (10 KOs), affirmed his position as the World Boxing Association’s mandatory challenger to undisputed champion Inoue, 28-0 (25 KOs), on Saturday in Monte Carlo, knocking out Ricardo Espinoza in the third round.
In the rotating cycle that sanctioning bodies follow for undisputed/unified champions, Akhmadaliev has precedence to invoke his mandatory bout because the WBA is first in line in this case.
Yet Inoue also appears to be headed to a return bout in Las Vegas in the spring, against Mexico’s Alan David Picasso, with Picasso doing his part to participate with a third-round knockout victory Saturday in Tijuana.
Akhmadaliev’s attorney, Pat English, previously penned a letter urging the WBA to enforce Akhmadaliev as next for Inoue.
Typically, that means ordering the titleholder to meet his mandatory or vacate the belt.
Akhmadaliev stablemate and former WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol came to his friend’s defense following the convincing Monte Carlo triumph.
“Throughout my career, I have always respected my mandatories and believe that Inoue’s team should respect [Akhmadaliev’s] and the sanctioning body who have ordered this fight,” Bivol said.
Inoue responded in an “X” post to Akhmadaliev’s victory by telling him to relax.
“Why do I have to run away from someone who lost to [Marlon] Tapales? There’s zero need for it. … If you want to fight, keep the ‘value’ of winning and wait!!” Inoue wrote. “Now I’m fully focused on the Goodman fight.”
The WBA would prefer not to sever ties with such an important, high-earning champion who earlier this year sold out the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome.
Akhmadaliev and his team also don’t want Inoue stripped.
“No, we want to fight him for the belts,” said Vadim Kornilov, Akhmadaliev’s manager.
Something of a tenuous truce has been struck, according to WBA executive Oliver Gomez, who spoke to BoxingScene at the WBA’s annual convention. Gomez said the sanctioning body designated Akhmadaliev’s Saturday bout as the WBA’s interim junior featherweight title – a position that will tighten Akhmadaliev’s pursuit of Inoue.
“We [wait] on both [Akhmadaliev’s and Inoue’s] results, and then we will go from there,” Gomez said.
English additionally said he believes a deal between the fighters will be formalized to designate when they will fight.
One alternative might be the window between Inoue’s date with Picasso and his apparent showdown later in the year in Japan with unbeaten countryman and bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani.
Yet in a Saturday interview with BoxingScene, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza Jnr said he prefers that Inoue would move right to Akhmadaliev should he win as expected versus Goodman.
“The winners have to fight,” Mendoza said. “Inoue has 10 days to decide after his [Goodman] fight.”
Kornilov acknowledges that Akhmadaliev can’t make more money against anyone else around his weight class. That prompted a scenario for Mendoza to consider: Can Inoue pay a step-aside fee to Akhmadaliev to keep his spring date against Picasso?
“I’m not a fan of it. It’s too much [of a wait],” Mendoza said. “If they agree [to postpone their meeting after one more fight], it’s very difficult to go against them.”
If Inoue is resolute in not fighting Akhmadaliev, Kornilov said “we will” accept a vacated belt.
“We just want the WBA to follow its procedures. We understand organizations don’t want to strip [Inoue] because he’s such an important fighter,” Kornilov said.
Mendoza said he’s prepared to do so and is sympathetic to Inoue’s position.
“I believe so,” Mendoza said. “I think he’s earned his right.”
Akhmadaliev’s business in the ring is complete. Now all he can do is wait for events to transpire.
“I don’t know that there’s anything else we can do,” Kornilov said.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
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