Naoya Inoue could be ringside this Saturday night at the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ vs. Frank Martin fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
This would be viewed as a reconnaissance mission for Inoue to look for weaknesses in the Baltimore native Tank. He can see if Tank Davis is ripe for the picking or if he needs to wait longer.
Inoue would get a chance to scout Tank Davis to spot holes in his game that he can exploit if he chooses to take the fight with him.
There’s a lot of money that Inoue can get from a fight against Tank, which would dwarf what he’s made in any of his other clashes during his long career. The dough that Inoue can make fighting Gervonta would be far more than anything he could dream of.
There’s pressure on Naoya, 31, to take the fight with Gervonta because he’s ranked highly in the pound-for-pound lists and is clearly of similar size. In recent photos of Inoue in the U.S., he looked like a 150-pounder walking around. Naoya looked like a junior middleweight.
Inoue is certainly more than big enough to fight Davis, but whether he’s got the courage is another thing. Does Inoue have the guts?
Is Inoue Content in the Barren Super Bantamweight Wasteland?
It would take bravery for Inoue to face this talent, and I could understand why he would choose not to. Inoue might feel it’s better to stay safe, avoid Tank Davis, and stay at the barren super bantamweight.
For Inoue, 31, to be ringside this weekend, it will increase speculation that he’s considering a move up in weight to challenge WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Tank Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) for his belt.
Inoue has held world titles in four weight classes, which is obviously a big deal, but not so much when one considers the opposition he’s faced thus far.
The problem with that is the opposition that ‘Monster’ Inoue has feasted on has been unspectacular. Most of the fighters are anonymous to the average boxing fan, and his fights have not drawn attention outside of Japan because of that reason.
A Look at Inoue’s “Impressive” Resume
– Nonito Donaire: *Late in his career
– Stephen Fulton: Untested finesse fighter
– Jason Moloney
– Luis Nery: *Post knockout loss to Brandon Figueroa
– Jamie McDonnell
– Omar Narvaez: A long, long time ago
– Emmanuel Rodríguez
Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) is the undisputed champion at Super Bantamweight, but the boxing public wants to see him move up to 126, 130, and 135 to test himself against the sharks in those weight classes.
Read the full article here
