JAPANESE sensation Naoya Inoue is set to return to fight on home soil in two weeks’ time, and it has now been revealed that tickets for the event are being resold for 13 times their original price, such is his star power.
Inoue, 30-0 (27 KOs), has ruled supreme in four weight classes and has defended the undisputed super-bantamweight crown on four occasions during the last 15 months, with all but one of those bouts taking place in Tokyo.
In a couple of weeks, Inoue fights in Nagoya, for what is arguably his toughest and final test in the 122lb division, against Uzbekistan’s former unified champion, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, 14-1 (11 KOs).
Regarded as a superstar in his country, the 17,000 tickets for the event reportedly sold out within 10 minutes, as hype for a well-rumoured battle against Japanese pound-for-pound rival Junto Nakatani, 31-0 (24 KOs), reaches its boiling point.
However, ahead of that blockbuster clash, promoter Hideyuki Ohasi may be about to lay down the gauntlet to ticket resellers, threatening to take legal action against those who have attempted to capitalise on the demand for Inoue-Akhmadaliev, as per Yahoo Japan.
“We have been warning people to be careful in the past, but resales have been confirmed.”
“We are currently consulting with lawyers about how to deal with this.”
Ohasi revealed that tickets, originally priced at ¥10,000 ($67/£50), are now being purchased on unauthorised and unsafe websites for up to ¥130,000 ($882/£653).
With Inoue-Nakatani demand sure to surpass that of next month’s offering, one can only imagine how much the price of second-hand tickets could soar, ahead of a truly one-of-a-kind, generational event in Japan.
As a result, Ohasi is understandably seeking action and will be keen to ensure that resellers are either unable or unwilling to run the risk of similar antics if Inoue and Nakatani do collide in early 2026.
Inoue-Akhmadaliev takes place on Sunday, September 14, at the IG Arena, with Yoshiki Takei, 11-0 (9 KOs), defending his WBO bantamweight title against Mexico’s Christian Medina Jimenez, 25-4 (15 KOs), in the co-main event of the card.
