AS time creeps up on boxing’s stars, an inevitable question becomes increasingly relevant: how much longer can they go on for? While a hulking heavyweight can go on and on (see the late, great George Foreman as a case in point), the lower weight masters tend to peak and wane considerably earlier.
Naoya Inoue turns 32 today (April 10). Currently reigning as the undisputed super-bantamweight champion, Inoue already has a hit list mapped out for him that starts with Ramon Cardenas on May 4, takes in Murodjon Akhmadaliev around September time and then, assuming the pesky WBA mandatory is suitably dismissed, an all-Japanese blockbuster with Junto Nakatani in 2026.
Inoue has hinted in past interviews that he plans to keep punching until his mid-thirties. Who knows what kind of legacy a man considered already by observers to be the greatest Japanese boxer of all time could build?
‘The Monster’, currently 29-0 (26 KOs) as a pro, picked up his first world title way back in 2014, knocking out Adrian Hernandez in round six to collect the WBO light-flyweight belt. Every fight since has been for a world title of some description.
There were the ones that got away. A fight with Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez was discussed at one point, but Teiken Promotions steered Gonzalez in a different direction. Timelines did not work out for Inoue to box the likes of Estrada or Sor Rungvisai. He skipped flyweight entirely during his weight class ascent. A fight with John Riel Casimero has been often discussed over the years.
So has a fight with WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball. That would entail another climb in weight for Inoue. The way he dispatched Stephen Fulton, Marlon Tapales and Luis Nery, it could be weight classes that prove to be his biggest challenge as he tiptoes further into his 30s.
