Naoya Inoue will keep at 122 to defend his undisputed tremendous bantamweight title subsequent towards #1 IBF and WBO contender Sam Goodman on December twenty fourth in Tokyo, Japan.
Nakatani on the Undercard in December
On the undercard of that struggle will likely be undefeated WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani, who will defend towards a yet-to-be-determined opponent. The thought behind having the 26-year-old Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) on the undercard of Inoue-Goodman is to create curiosity in a conflict between the 2 Japanese champions.
Goodman, a weak puncher and one other simple mark for Inoue, just isn’t the fighter that followers wished to see from the Japanese star face subsequent. They need to see Naoya Inoue, 31, transfer as much as 126 and check himself towards Bruce Carrington, Angelo Leo, Rafael Espinoza, Nick Ball, Robeisy Ramirez and Brandon Figueroa.
Followers need to see Inoue struggle somebody good for a change as an alternative of the middle-of-the-road opposition he’s been feeding on for the final 12 years. American followers view Inoue in a totally completely different mild than their Japanese counterparts, viewing him as a craftily packaged hype job matched rigorously and bought to the general public like a product.
Christmas Eve Showdown
Lance Pugmire reviews that Prime Rank promoter Bob Arum advised him that Inoue will struggle on Christmas Eve, December twenty fourth, towards the 25-year-old Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), with Junto Nakatani on the undercard. If each Japanese fighters win, they’ll meet in April 2025 on the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Inoue regarded common on Tuesday night time, stopping Eire’s TJ Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) within the seventh spherical on the Ariake Area, Tokyo, Japan. The 37-year-old Doheny’s again gave out on him within the seventh, inflicting the struggle to be stopped.
In response to Inoue’s promoter, Arum, he cautiously fought by way of the early rounds as a result of “Doheny had inflated to 147 kilos.” I don’t purchase that excuse, however I can’t blame Arum for making an attempt to clarify away Inoue’s poor efficiency. Inoue have to be propped up after how he regarded towards the outdated man he was combating on Tuesday night time.
Inoue’s Vulnerability at 122
It regarded extra like a case of Inoue getting hit with repeated left arms from Doheny, missing the defensive abilities to keep away from these pictures. The 31-year-old Inoue didn’t look assured sufficient to take the pictures from Doheny to go on the assault the best way he had when he was combating within the decrease weight lessons towards smaller and weaker fighters.
Inoue was dropped in his earlier struggle towards Luis Nery and punished in his conflict towards Marlon Tapales. These two fights took away plenty of the bravery that Inoue as soon as had when competing at 108, 112, 115, and 118. Preventing at 122, Inoue doesn’t get pleasure from getting hit and is unwilling to slug as he’d carried out earlier in his profession.
