SIX DAYS IN NAGOYA
MJ’s eyes almost danced, his skin was perfect, and there wasn’t the slightest sign that he was debilitated from cutting weight. I immediately took note that the Uzbekistan-born southpaw was in excellent fighting shape. At the end of the interview, which was posted on The Ring’s website, MJ asked social media content creator Mukhammadkodir Egamov, who had been translating, to find out my prediction for the fight. I explained that I was picking Inoue by late TKO or decision, at which point the challenger patted me on the shoulder and said, “I see you after fight!” From the moment the match was made official in the summer, Akhmadaliev was written off by fans and media. My feeling was that he simply wanted another boost of motivation from someone else picking against him. The fighter said goodbye and made his way to the elevator. I wished him luck. LOST IN TRANSLATION On Friday, I attended the final press conference at the Nagoya Hilton. Not much was translated into English; after all, I was one of the only Western journalists in attendance. Conversely, there were a couple hundred local press on hand for the fifth defense of Inoue’s undisputed crown. It was a good- natured affair, with the highlight being Akhmadaliev presenting the champ and his co-promoter/manager, Hideyuki Ohashi, with traditional Uzbekistan robes known as chapans. Visiting Japan also allowed me to catch up with, for my money, the finest boxing photographer in the world. After the press conference, I took the opportunity to interview Naoki Fukuda about his life and career. It was a wonderful experience, and that feature will be available in a forthcoming issue of The Ring. Naoki was translated by Mizuka Koike, yet another amazing professional, who is irreplaceable in her role as the big-fight translator in Japan. At the weigh-in on Saturday, both champion and challenger would make the 122-pound limit without incident. However, Inoue walked onto the stage with a different demeanor from what we’d seen at the press conference. Bespectacled and bejeweled, he was adorned in his own custom merchandise and had the look of an assassin. MJ, eyes wide, held his own and flexed his impressive physique on the scales, but I gave this round to Inoue on presence alone. The guy is one serious badass! THE FIGHT BEFORE THE FIGHT Japan (JST) is 16 hours ahead of Las Vegas (PT), which means that the Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev show was likely to clash with the Canelo vs. Crawford main event. I was on business, so the latter would have to be sacrificed if the shows overlapped, and I’d accepted that fact before I made the trip. I ordered room service – which I would usually avoid ($) – during the Crawford-Canelo undercard. I watched Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez battle furiously to a 10-round split draw. I then checked out Callum Walsh’s impressive points triumph over Fernando Vargas Jr., a victory that has the Irishman on the cusp of a junior middleweight world title fight.
As we all know, “Bud” pulled off the so-called upset and became the first male fighter in the two-, three- or four-belt eras to capture three undisputed championships in as many weights. In the late 1930s, Henry Armstrong held featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles simultaneously. For his part, Crawford is a former Ring/lineal lightweight champion who conquered the 140- and 147-pound divisions on his way to holding every available belt at super middleweight. The Omaha native is an authentic all-time great – case closed. THE MONSTER VS. MJ The Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev undercard had a bit of everything: strong performances, bone-crushing stoppages and big shocks. The co-main event actually had all three, with Mexico’s Christian Medina wrenching the WBO bantamweight crown from the previously unbeaten Yoshiki Takei via pulverizing fourth-round stoppage. Once the home crowd got over Takei’s capitulation, they rose as one for Inoue as he made his walk to the ring. While a Japanese fight crowd is known to be quiet in comparison to their more raucous U.S. and U.K. counterparts, Inoue’s entrance produced serious voltage. The atmosphere was terrific. The opening round of the main event, as is often the case during boxing matches at the top level, was used for surveying. Inoue was laser-sharp with his hands and feet, firing out the jab, and there was one memorable straight right to the body that became a signature move. The bell ended the first round, I quickly entered 10-9 for Inoue on my scorecard, made some notes … and then my heart sank. A friend of mine sent a WhatsApp message that came up as a preview on my laptop: “FFS RIP Ricky Hatton.” I instantly went cold and felt really upset, but I had to gather myself to do a job in real time. Getting through the remainder of that main event and putting Ricky’s death to the back of my mind was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my career. Ricky and I weren’t close friends, but I watched him compete from 1997 to 2012. I also met him a few times, dealt with him professionally and thought the world of him. The former two- weight world champ and Hall of Famer had the unique gift of being impossible to dislike. He was brilliant. “The Hitman” was a great fighter, a great human being, and I’ll never forget him. CATCHING THE MONSTER Getting a one-on-one interview with Inoue during fight week was going to be almost as difficult as beating him in the ring. I’d asked around but was assured by a variety of different sources that it wouldn’t happen. That was fine, and I understood completely, so I turned my attention to the post- fight press conference. The main takeaway from the MJ fight was that Inoue went out of his way to box clever and never opened up for the finish. When was the last time that happened? Instead of utilizing Monster-mode, the champ was tactically perfect, neutralizing Akhmadaliev’s ability to counter by mixing eyeblink-quick jabs
and power punches with rapid footwork. Simply put, he was too quick to counter. Forced to come forward, MJ was nowhere near as effective, and that was the story of the fight. With Mizuka next to me to translate, I asked the champion about his tactical approach. “I focused on how to stick to my strategy, and I think I did great,” Inoue told The Ring. “This is Team Ohashi and Team Inoue’s result, and I’m so happy about it.” Was it satisfying to go the distance for the first time in six years?
The main event was just about to get underway when I had to leave for the arena. From the back of a taxi, I watched the ring entrances and the national anthems. When I arrived at the arena, the heat was oppressive, and I began to sweat. That was OK, though, because who was going to notice? Well, how about the super- friendly Japanese news crew that jumped in front of me before I reached the steps? They asked me some questions about Inoue as my skin continued to leak, and I was finally on my way. Upon entering the media room, the Canelo vs. Crawford fight had just gotten underway. A group of journalists surrounded a tablet, but I noticed that their stream was breaking up and was a few seconds behind, so I stuck to watching the action on my cell phone. Naoki then informed me that the first fight on the Inoue vs. MJ undercard would start in 45 minutes. Talk about good timing.
64 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker