Inoue Content To Stay At 122 – Is He Avoiding Bigger Challenges?

Naoya Inoue isn’t interested in moving up to 126 after his seventh-round knockout of TJ Doheny on Tuesday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) made his second defense of his undisputed super bantamweight title against 37-year-old Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs), whose back gave out on him during the seventh round. It wasn’t what Inoue did that ended the fight.

Is Inoue Avoiding Tougher Fights?

Doheny’s back couldn’t handle all the leaning that he was doing to avoid Inoue’s punches and eventually froze on him. After the fight, it was learned that Inoue, 31, will be staying at 122 and plans to defend against his IBF mandatory Sam Goodman on December 24th in Tokyo.’

When you see Inoue fighting guys like Doheny and Luis Nery and targeting the light hitter Goodman, it’s hard not to conclude that he’s avoiding the tougher fights. If Inoue were interested in fighting tougher guys, he’d have already moved up to 126 earlier this year, and he wouldn’t be planning to fight Goodman.

“You call him ‘The Monster,’ and you anoint him as this mythological person, and then you expect him to go up in weight and fight everybody all the time,” said commentator Chris Algieri to the Inside Boxing Live YouTube channel, talking about Naoya Inoue looking human in his fight against TJ Doheny on Tuesday night.

Inoue only moved up in weight four times, and he’s now where he should have been from the start of his career. He is always huge for the 112, 115, and 118-lb divisions. He’s now fighting guys his size at 122, but the division is so utterly barren of talent that Inoue needs to move up to 126.

The Fear Factor

All the talented fighters are in that weight class because there’s no point in fighting at 122. After all, the only guy there worth fighting is Inoue. He won’t fight them because he’s too busy being selective.

“It’s always, ‘What’s next? Move up to 126.’ Guys, he’s human. He’s fighting at 122. He’s under-sized; he’s a smaller guy. It’s his fourth, and he’s still stopping all these guys. For the length of his career, moving up and fighting bigger guys with more experience, but he’s still stopping them,” said Algieri.

Fans want to see Inoue move up to 126 because that’s where all the talented fighters are. If the 122-lb division were as well stocked with quality fighters as the 126-lb division is, fans wouldn’t be badgering Inoue to move up. 122 is filled with older fighters, and fans want Inoue to move up to 126, where he’d have an endless supply of great fights.

“Granted, he’s not mowing guys down with one-punch KOs like he was doing at 118 and 115, but he’s human,” Algieri continued about Inoue. “He’s going to decline. He’s 31 years old. He says he wants to do two more years at this weight class [122].”

What is Algieri talking about? Inoue is already showing a decline in the power and hand speed department. We saw that in his fights against Doheny, Marlon Tapales, and Luis Nery. Like many fighters who slow down when they reach their 30s, Inoue is beginning to show signs of slowing down, and that’s age. Inoue’s fans might not like hearing it, but they must face the truth.

‘Monster’ Inoue is getting old and ready to be beaten. Hence, he’s yet to show interest in fighting Murodjon Akhmadaliev or moving up to fight the young lion Bruce Carrington, who is waiting to devour him at 126.

That’s why Inoue is choosing to stay rooted to the spot at 122, choosing the light hitter Sam Goodman for his next fight on December 24th. Inoue is no longer willing to take risks. Fear has set in and has got Inoue by its clutches. He can’t break free and is not even trying. It would take an electrical prod to move Naoya out of his hunker to face talents like Murodjon and Carrington.

Questioning His Own Abilities

“I always say, ’33 is that magic number.’ 33 is when guys really start to dip. Inoue has got a couple of years left. I saw an interview on ESPN about what he’s going to do next, and he was questioning his own ability to move up [to 126]. I’d never heard him do that in an interview,” said Algieri.

Inoue’s supposed comment questioning his ability to move up might explain his reluctance to move up to 126 after he accomplished his goal of becoming the undisputed super bantamweight champion last December with his victory over Marlon Tapales. Fans had expected Inoue to move up to featherweight after that win, but he didn’t. Instead, he’s stayed at 122, fighting Luis Nery and Doheny.

Giving Fans What They Want?

“So, I think that’s really indicative, and I think it shows at 122. You see these guys. They’re just bigger people than him. These fans that are knocking him for being human. It’s crazy. You’ve got to look at his career in totality and understand that he is giving fans what they want by fighting stiffer challenges in bigger weight classes,” said Algieri about Inoue.

Fans would disagree with Algieri’s comment about Inoue giving them the fights they want in bigger weight classes because they didn’t want him to fight the washed Luis Nery or TJ Doheny. Those were Inoue’s babies. He wanted those fights, not the fans.

Fans wanted Inoue to fight these fighters:

1. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
2. Bruce Carrington
3. Rafael Espinoza
4. Jesse ‘Bam’ Ridriguez
5. Gervonta Davis
6. Nick Ball