Naoya Inoue has formally been chosen by Ring Journal employees as their new pound-for-pound king, changing Terence Crawford for the highest sport.
Ring Journal’s selection is questionable as a result of many pundits really feel that Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) hasn’t overwhelmed the extent of opposition to seize the #1 spot from Crawford and even show that he’s extra deserving than a number of fighters on the listing ranked beneath him.
Ring Journal was impressed with the way in which the 31-year-old Japanese star Inoue bought off the canvas within the first spherical to defeat Luis Nery by sixth-round knockout final Monday night time on the Tokyo Dome.
Many boxing followers really feel that Crawford ought to nonetheless be #1 as a result of his wins lately have been towards higher competitors than the pedestrian-level fighters that Naoya Inoue has been padding his report with.
Up to date Ring Journal pound-for-pound rankings
1. Naoya Inoue
2. Terence Crawford
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Canelo Alvarez
5. Artur Beterbiev
6. Dmitry Bivol
7. Errol Spence
8. Gervonta Davis
9. Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez
10. Junto Nakatani
Boxing followers can be extra prepared to view Inoue as deserving of the #1 pound-for-pound king if examined himself by shifting as much as light-weight to problem Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for his WBA ‘common’ title.
Inoue reportedly rehydrates to the 140s for his fights at tremendous bantamweight, that means he’s greater than large enough to struggle Tank Davis at light-weight with out the necessity for a catchweight handicap. If Inoue had been prepared to struggle Tank Davis, followers would see whether or not he’s pretty much as good as some, together with the Ring Journal employees assume he’s.
I don’t see Inoue as being worthy of the #1 pound-for-pound King, as a result of I don’t charge Luis Nery, and I’m not impressed with Naoya’s different latest wins over these guys:
– Nonito Donaire: 40-years-old
– Paul Butler
– Marlon Tapales
– Stephen Fulton
– Aran Dipaen
– Michael Dasmariñas
Followers would additionally prefer to see Naoya Inoue check himself by going as much as featherweight, which is just 4 lbs North of tremendous bantamweight, the place he may check himself towards quite a few proficient guys with energy much like his personal.
The truth that Inoue has proven little interest in testing himself at 126 suggests to some that he’s afraid as a result of he is aware of he may lose. So, he’d slightly keep at 122 the place it’s protected, preventing guys which have already been overwhelmed earlier than and received’t give him any issues, like Luis Nery. That man had just lately been knocked out.
