TJ Doheny, Naoya Inoue’s most recent opponent, is gigantic at super bantamweight. He looked so much bigger than the undisputed champion – and that’s something that should be taken into consideration whenever Inoue fights at that weight.
At 122lbs, Inoue is going to be undersized, and therefore going to have to use his boxing fundamentals and his high IQ. He’s fighting giants – he can’t just blow opponents out and finish them with a single liver shot like he did at 115lbs and 118lbs.
He’s fighting in his fourth weight division. Those suggesting he disappointed, or showed signs of decline, against Doheny are overreacting. Doheny fought with a game plan he was executing well; he was being awkward, which is a sound move against a fundamental fighter like Inoue; he was the bigger guy, and he’s a southpaw, like Luis Nery, who once dropped Inoue with an overhand left.
In his pre-fight changing room Inoue could be seen working on keeping his right hand tight, as he did in the opening rounds, which shows that at 31 he’s still improving and willing to work on his craft and learn from the mistake he made against Nery. He deserves credit for recording another stoppage victory. It might have taken him longer, like it did against Nery and Marlon Tapales, but suggestions he’s declining are insane. Doheny was attempting to frustrate Inoue because he can’t match him skill for skill or punch for punch, so he was being tricky; he was being elusive. He fought like a savvy veteran.
I also believe that Doheny was selected as Inoue’s opponent because of the knockdown inflicted by Nery in May. Inoue and Shingo, his father and trainer, saw that he needed to improve defensively, and they didn’t want to test their attempts to improve against a more dangerous opponent, so Doheny, aged 37, was chosen.
Bob Arum of Top Rank, Inoue’s co-promoters, has already suggested that Inoue will fight again in Tokyo on December 24, and then in Las Vegas in the first half of 2025. If he does fight on Christmas Eve he’ll have fought for the fourth time in under 12 months; he’s maximising his opportunities at the peak of his career, which more fighters also ought to be doing. The best versions of almost all fighters are when they’re busier, and while I’m sure Inoue’s training camps are challenging, he doesn’t take a lot of punishment in fights.
He’s become a global star. In the build-up to him fighting Doheny I was being asked what time on Tuesday morning he was fighting at – it’s not common for an American audience to be interested in a Japanese fighter weighing 122lbs and fighting at 7am.
Sam Goodman and Murodjon Akhmadaliev have already been spoken of as his next opponent. Akhmadaliev strikes me as the more appealing, on the grounds of him being a better fighter and the style of fighter who would gel with Inoue for a more entertaining contest. None of which is to say Goodman wouldn’t still be of interest; Inoue’s so good that matching him with any contender at 122lbs would appeal.
It was on ProBox TV when the debate surrounding whether Inoue “needs” to fight in the US took place. I don’t believe he does; my colleague Timothy Bradley strongly believes otherwise. In my mind, Inoue’s in the driver’s seat and can do whatever he wants; the millions he earns to fight in Japan, and the amount his opponents get paid to challenge him, means he doesn’t ever need to fight anywhere else. He regularly fights in front of big audiences; he’s as capable of dictating terms of as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
It’d be very positive for America-based fight fans for him to fight here, but most appealing of all is the prospect of Junto Nakatani fighting on the same promotion ahead of a potential future showdown between them. Inoue-Nakatani is one of the fights at the very top of my wish list. Nakatani’s a phenomenal talent; he’s tall; long; has power; rhythm, and a sense of timing. In other words, he has the ability and skillset to trouble Inoue, if not best him.
In under four months we’ve seen Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury, Terence Crawford defeat Israil Madrimov, and Inoue stop Doheny. At the time of writing, Usyk’s my number one of the three; he’s shown so much; I was enthralled with the way he had to come back from adversity to spectacularly defeat Fury. Crawford, my number two, looked good against Madrimov but didn’t separate himself from his contemporaries in the way that Usyk did. Which leaves Inoue narrowly behind at number three. But one of the reasons I enjoy watching him so much is because there are times he looks vulnerable. I’m on the edge of my seat every time he fights.
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