Eddie Hearn believes he has the perfect ace up his sleeve, especially after Naoya Inoue went 12 rounds in a “competitive fight” with Junto Nakatani.
Their super-bantamweight encounter on Saturday certainly had its competitive moments, but ‘The Monster’ ultimately showed his elite-level capabilities by claiming a unanimous decision victory.
In doing so, Inoue successfully defended his undisputed crown at a sold-out Tokyo Dome, where his triumph over Nakatani could eventually be regarded as a career-best victory.
It was not so much the optics of his performance, but rather the immense focus and discipline he showed, which made it such an impressive display.
Given Nakatani’s top 10 pound-for-pound status, too, ‘The Monster’ was under considerable pressure to maintain his position as the poster boy of Japanese boxing.
But while the 33-year-old has previously expressed an interest in moving up to featherweight, bidding to become a five-division world champion, he is now expected to remain at 122lbs for the foreseeable future.
This is because boxing’s relevant stakeholders are exploring an undisputed showdown against Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, who aims to become a three-weight world champion against WBA bantamweight titlist Antonio Vargas on June 13.
After that, the unified king at 115lbs may look to move up a further weight class and challenge Inoue, who scored a points victory over David Picasso in Saudi Arabia last December.
Based on that performance, and highlights from the Nakatani fight, Matchroom promoter Hearn has told Boxing News that he fully expects ‘Bam’ to dethrone ‘The Monster.’
“I watched Inoue up close, in Saudi, and I’ve never been more convinced that Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez beats him.
“For a long period of time, I thought it might be a step too far for Jesse. But now Jesse’s up at bantamweight, and feels big and strong, I just think he’s too good for [Inoue].
“He’s 26 years old. And what’s Inoue – 33 now? I don’t see ‘Bam’ losing to Inoue. I thought Inoue would go through Nakatani – and do a right job on him – and, by all accounts, it was a very competitive fight.”
Following the pound-for-pound star’s victory over Nakatani, it was reported that Turki Alalshikh is keen for Inoue and Rodriguez to headline a Japan show in January.
