Naoya Inoue declares fellow boxer as No.1 pound-for-pound in the world in show of great humility

Naoya Inoue was awarded the Ring Magazine's prestigious Fighter of the Year award for his superb performances in 2023.

'The Monster' moved from bantamweight to super-bantamweight to challenge Stephen Fulton for the WBO and WBC titles. After a dominant eight-round showing against a bigger opponent, Inoue landed a crisp right hand that hurt Fulton badly before finishing the fight with a flurry of strikes.

The Japanese boxer had aspirations of becoming the second male boxer, after Terence Crawford, to become an undisputed champion in two weight classes. Later, in 2023, he faced off against Marlon Tapales, with the winner set to become the undisputed super-bantamweight champion.

'The Monster' followed up his eighth-round TKO win over Fulton with a 10th-round KO victory over Tapales to become the undisputed king.

Despite him receiving the Fighter of the Year award for 2023, Inoue has declared fellow boxing great Crawford as the current No.1 pound-for-pound pugilist in the world.

According to talkSPORT boxing editor Michael Benson, Inoue said the following during a recent interview with Ring Magazine:

“Terence Crawford is #1 pound-for-pound and I’ve reached a position where I’m compared to fighters like him every time I fight… I won Fighter of the Year. But I honestly think #1 pound-for-pound is probably even more important to my boxing career."

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Who is Naoya Inoue likely to face next?

Naoya Inoue's next opponent appears to be the WBC mandatory challenger at super bantamweight Luis Nery.

Both pugilists went 2-0 in 2023, and according to Michael Benson, the respective parties have entered negotiations to agree a deal.

It would be the first defense of Inoue's newly-acquired undisputed super bantamweight crown, but the bout may need to take place outside of Japan - where Inoue has hosted his previous five fights - due to Nery being banned from the country due to a failed drug test.

Benson took to X to announce that 'The Monster' had entered discussions with Nery and wrote this:

"Naoya Inoue has confirmed that he's in negotiations to defend his undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO super-bantamweight world titles in May. Rumoured to be vs WBC mandatory challenger Luis Nery, who was previously banned from fighting in Japan by the Japanese Commission. Nery tested positive for Zilpaterol around his TKO4 of long-reigning world champion Shinsuke Yamanaka in 2017, then came in massively overweight before winning the 2018 rematch by TKO2"

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