This 16-0 Japanese phenom is only 25 years old and possesses and incredible 14 knockouts with a nearly 90% knockout ratio. At bantamweight, this is nearly unheard of.
Inoue is highly deceptive with an immense 68" reach for his height of 5'5. Inoue is by no means the biggest fighter in his weight class, but he is one of the most accurate and technical.
His precision brings on the finish as his opponents can not keep up with the amount of well placed and hard shots coming at them. Inoue was always technically perfect with his sublime in and out footwork and the ability to keep men at the end of his punches (whether it be because of the jab threat or counter).
Many fans didn't know if Inoue's skill could keep up with the ranks of world level American opponents that would be offered to him, but once out of Japan, Naoya truly employed the 'Monster' moniker to its full extent.
Nearly one year ago today, Inoue made his debut in the United States, and he looked more impressive than ever against the sturdy veteran Antonio Nieves.
At the time Nieves was 18-1 with that single loss being a close and split decision.Naoya dominated him bell to bell before retiring Nieves in his corner. Few things are worst than a pure knockout in boxing, but quitting is surely one of them!
In May of this year, Naoya took another step up against Jamie McDonnell, a fighter who was 29-2 with a solid accumen of wins over veterans such as Fernando Vargas, and was a mainstay in the UK boxing scene for years. Inoue's dismantling of the British veteran proved that he just may be the real deal, and the main event in Tokyo has everyone still buzzing on his potential.
Bantam to Feathwer to Lightweight are not all that distant, and Naoya has the body type to stay long and strong at any of them (in my opinion at least). I look very forward to this man's future..
Have you seen the 'Monster' fight? Is he the future of boxing?
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