THE BIG TIME A MONSTER’S PASSION
Ring: Are you concerned about the physical strength of the featherweight fighters? Inoue: Ball is a fighter who has used his physical strength as a weapon. But he’s not tall, and in fact he’s smaller than me. So maybe he’s not a natural featherweight. Still, he’s a guy who has risen in the featherweight division by defeating bigger opponents, so I think it will be a fun fight. Ring: Mr. Ohashi mentioned your plan to move up to featherweight once and then return to junior featherweight next year. Will that be another challenge? Inoue: Now that’s a new challenge. If I succeed in such a challenge, I think it will be a path that no other Japanese person has ever taken. Ring: If you return to 122 pounds next year, will you face Junto Nakatani? Inoue: Yes, that’s the plan. Ring: You are probably asked about Nakatani often nowadays, and I think you are high on him too. Inoue: He’s very good. He’s tall and powerful. From what I’ve seen of his boxing, I think he’s also very smart, and he’s a good fighter. However, he hasn’t had any big fights or intense battles yet. Considering his future, I think his lack of experience in intense fights is a cause for concern. Aside from that, I think he’s a strong fighter. Ring: Nakatani also has a lot of respect for you and has repeatedly said that he still needs to build up his resume. Are you happy that such a highly regarded fighter is coming out of Japan and that there is a possibility that you will have a big fight in your home country? Inoue: I’m certainly happy about it and looking forward to it. However, there’s still a year until the day we’re trying to make the fight happen. As good as he is, that fight is not the goal of my boxing career. If it happens in May of next year, great, I’m all for it. If
checking things one by one and working on them. People say that I’ve had fewer devastating KOs since I moved up to junior featherweight and that there’s a wall in the weight class, but I’ve won all my fights by KO at 122 pounds. I don’t feel like there’s a wall. It’s just that my own plan and approach have changed. Ring: I thought your KO victory over Kim was pretty devastating too. Inoue: I guess fans have become a bit numb to the idea of m e winning. Ring: Will the Murodjon Akhmadaliev fight happen in September? Inoue: I’m supposed to fight him in Nagoya in September, and I’m really looking forward to it. When I fight against such strong fighters, I can bring out the best in myself and bring out the power I never imagined. I expect to do unexpected things in the moment. Ring: Your best fights so far have been against Omar Narvaez, Juan Carlos Payano, the Nonito Donaire rematch and Stephen Fulton – all highly touted opponents. Is Akhmadaliev that good too? Inoue: I think Akhmadaliev is a fighter of that level. Ring: Are you aware of the ongoing trash talk from Akhmadaliev and promoter Eddie Hearn? Inoue: Yes, I want to tell them to calm down, because we will fight eventually. (laughs) I’m not that worried about it, though. Ring: And are you expecting to fight Nick Ball at 126 pounds at the end of the year? Inoue: If I win in May and September, and Nick Ball beats TJ Doheny, then the fight will take place in December in Saudi Arabia. I’ve seen highlights of Ball fighting. I don’t dislike fighting aggressive fighters like him at all. On the contrary, I find it more bothersome when my opponents use their footwork.
it doesn’t, I don’t intend to keep waiting at 122 pounds.
Ring: In your boxing career, have you ever felt rivalry with any fighter? Inoue: Even going back to my childhood, there was no fighter who I felt a sense of rivalry with. It depends on your point of view. Manny Pacquiao once had rivals such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, but if Pacquiao had easily won the first fight against those fighters, they would not have been considered rivals. If I had fought a fierce battle against Fulton like the first fight between Fulton and Brandon Figueroa, the second fight might have happened, and we might have become rivals. Pacquiao’s rivals were legends, so I don’t mean to put them down, but what I’m saying is I see opinions that there are no strong fighters in my era and in my weight classes. I don’t know if that’s true or not. Ring: Maybe you just have been so much better than everyone else in your weight classes. Inoue: I’d like to believe that, of course. Ring: So, even if they weren’t your rivals, do you ever wish there were more big names in your weight class? Nonito Donaire was a big name, though. Inoue: I think Donaire wasn’t in his prime. I don’t know, but maybe it was bad timing; other fighters, like Roman Gonzalez, changed weight classes. But there’s nothing I can do about that. There was a time when the junior bantamweight class had a lot of strong fighters, so in that sense I may not have been blessed with the times. If you ask me who, I’m not that knowledgeable about boxing, so I don’t know about past fighters, but I would have liked to fight in the days when there were plenty
The destruction of Kim was Inoue ’ s eighth straight fight on Japanese soil.
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