A former opponent of pound-for-pound great Naoya Inoue has shared his thoughts on the skill set of the Japanese sensation.
‘The Monster’ has established himself as arguably the best active fighter on the planet over the last few years, becoming one of only fighters to win an undisputed world championship in more than one weight class.
The Japanese superstar has been very active over the last 18-months, racking up wins over the likes of Luis Nery, Ramon Cardenas and Murodjon Akhmadaliev to name just a few.
Inoue was last in action on December 27 when he defeated Mexico’s Alan David Picasso via unanimous decision to successfully retain his undisputed super-bantamweight championship for the sixth time at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine shortly after his defeat to Inoue, Picasso claimed that he ‘expected more’ from the pound-for-pound star although he does acknowledge that it was a ‘very tough fight’.
“It was a difficult fight and a very tough fight. Inoue was very explosive and very quick. However, I felt superior in some parts of the last rounds of the fight, but yeah, it was tough. But I expected something tougher from Inoue – more explosive, more powerful … I don’t feel defeated, but my dream still goes on to be a world champion. I will get ready and come back stronger.”
Following his latest win over Picasso, Inoue is expected to go on to secure a ‘dream fight’ with countryman Junto Nakatani, who has previously held world titles at flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight.
The monumental clash between the unbeaten superstars is slataed to take place in May at the Tokyo Dome – undoubtedly the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.
