At just 30 years of age, with 25 fights under his belt, Naoya Inoue is already a four-weight world champion and a pound-for-pound entrant.
On December 26, “The Monster” will seek to become a double undisputed ruler when he takes on fellow unified super bantamweight titleholder Marlon Tapales at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
WATCH: Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales, exclusively on ESPN+
In April 2014, Inoue won the WBC light flyweight title at the expense of Adrian Hernandez (TKO 6). Less than eight months later, the then-21-year-old skipped over the flyweight division to batter long-reigning WBO junior bantamweight champ Omar Narvaez (TKO 2).
Between May 2018 and December 2022, Inoue focussed on the bantamweight division, taking down Emmanuel Rodriguez (TKO 2), Nonito Donaire (UD 12) and Paul Butler (TKO 11) on his way to becoming undisputed champion.
In his most recent fight, the Japanese hero blasted out previously unbeaten American Stephen Fulton (TKO 8) to claim the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles.
It's been an incredible run of form… and Inoue shows no sign of slowing down.
Boxing history is replete with great fighters doing near-impossible things when it comes to weight divisions. The legendary Henry Armstrong held featherweight, lightweight and welterweight championships simultaneously. Manny Pacquiao conquered a record eight weight classes in the modern era. Meanwhile, Amanda Serrano holds the women’s record with championships in seven divisions.
When I spoke to Inoue for Ring Magazine, shortly after he’d annihilated former unified bantamweight champion Juan Carlos Payano in 70 seconds, he had this to say about ascending the scales, via translator Masa Ueda: "Right now, I can only see myself as high as super bantamweight (122 pounds). But if I go up and my body gets bigger, then I may move up again."
Given that Inoue can lay claim to the undisputed championship at 122 pounds after just two fights at the weight, it’s safe to say that this ferocious champion can go higher.
If he moves on to featherweight, then there are daunting challenges in the form of WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez and IBF counterpart Luis Alberto Lopez. However, The Monster would open as favourite against either of them.
Inoue wouldn’t be dwarfed at featherweight. Cuba’s Ramirez, who was a double Olympic champion, is 5ft 5in with a 68in reach. Mexican power-puncher Lopez is 5ft 4in with a 66½in reach.
The difference in height and wingspan are negligible with Inoue at 5ft 5in with a 67in reach. Granted, both Ramirez and Lopez will be coming down from a higher weight when they come into camp, but Inoue’s speed, power, and skill are decisive equalisers.
Could Inoue go higher than featherweight? That’s when things could get a little silly. The WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster is 5ft 8in with a 72in reach. If that’s not bad enough, IBF titleholder Joe Cordina is 5ft 9in with a 69in reach. Physical advantages like this can be very difficult to overcome. After all, there are weight classes for a reason.
WATCH: Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales, exclusively on ESPN+
The aforementioned Manny Pacquiao overcame massive physical advantages to claim world titles from flyweight to super welterweight. However, Pacquiao’s insane volume punching and foot speed allowed him to overwhelm much bigger opponents.
Inoue, as great a fighter as he is, has a completely different style from Pacquiao and it’s by no means guaranteed that he’d be effective against much bigger men.
But no matter what division Inoue stops at, fans can be sure of one thing – The Monster will be there to do damage.