Naoya Inoue is seen by many as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
The 32-year-old from Kanagawa, Japan holds a perfect professional record where he is unbeaten through 30 contests, with 27 of these coming inside the scheduled distance.
He remains one of the few fighters in boxing history to win an undisputed championship in more than one weight class, having achieved this feat at bantamweight and super-bantamweight.
He made the most recent defence of his undisputed super-bantamweight championship against Ramon Cardenas on May 4 in Las Vegas. Inoue was floored in the second round but went on to stop Cardenas in the eighth round to add yet another impressive knockout victory to his record.
In the eyes of many, ‘The Monster’ sits at the top of the pound-for-pound list ahead of the likes of unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and four-weight world champion Terence Crawford, which is a claim that Inoue himself has backed.
Speaking on the Cigar Talk podcast, the 32-year-old staked his claim for being the best active fighter on the planet when asked where he believes he ranks amongst the likes of Usyk and Crawford to name a few.
“I do this because I believe I am number one [pound-for-pound].”
After dispatching of Cardenas last time out, Inoue is now looking likely to face former IBF super-bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev later this year.
‘The Monster’ revealed shortly after his victory over Cardenas that a showdown with ‘MJ’ will take place in September, although an official announcement is yet to be made.
