Naoya Inoue is 29-0 with 26 knockouts. A flyweight at the onset of his career, he is now a junior featherweight and will likely climb higher. Floating through the weight classes has not stolen his ability to viciously knock out his challengers. He is easily a future Hall of Famer and a likely all-time great, and would be both even if he decided to retire right now.
Yet we’re constantly asking him to do more.
Some have even pushed for Inoue vs. Gervonta “Tank” Davis, a movement that gained sufficient steam for Inoue to have to explain its unlikeliness himself.
The modern boxing fan is satisfied, if ever, only momentarily. Terence Crawford demolishes Errol Spence Jnr in the best big-fight performance in years. After 12 months of inactivity, he’s once again taking criticism for the way he has managed his career. Fighters get question after question about future opponents … during a fight week against another opponent. Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II isn’t enough. We must ask about Beterbiev-Oleksandr Usyk – and then ask again when the answer isn’t to our liking.
Boxing fans can view the sport as a giant fantasy choose-your-own-adventure book, which is naturally part of the appeal. Turki Alalshikh views the sport as an actual choose-your-own-adventure book, which is why he has tried to make unrealistic fights such as David Benavidez-Crawford at 160.
It makes one grateful that a fighter like Marvelous Marvin Hagler built his career in the 1970s and ‘80s. If he fought today, the through-and-through middleweight would be constantly badgered to move up to 168lbs to fight Canelo or to 175lbs to fight the Beterbiev-Bivol II winner. If he didn’t, he would somehow be compromising his legacy or disappointing the fans.
As is, Hagler is a legend. But modern fighters are rarely afforded the same patience if they want to stay in a weight class, or even if they want to take their time climbing to a new weight. I suspect that if he could tune out the opinions of the fans and media, Inoue would love to just stay at junior featherweight forever – or may not even have fought that heavy in the first place. If he dropped back down now, he would be accused of ducking Nakatani.
Moving up weight classes and fighting top opposition is a spectacular feat. It shouldn’t mean there is anything wrong with a fighter sticking in their preferred division. And it definitely shouldn’t mean that when a fighter does embrace this rare and challenging path that we should ask them to take increasingly reckless challenges.
Inoue is a special fighter who genuinely seems to want to take part in crowd-pleasing fights. Given the unreasonable expectations of much of that crowd, I hope he doesn’t get knocked out for his generosity.
Owen Lewis is a former intern at Defector media and writes and edits for BoxingScene. His beats are tennis, boxing, books, travel and anything else that satisfies his meager attention span. He is on Bluesky.
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