Five fighters who might be able to defeat “The Monster”.
Naoya Inoue is considered to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and is in the running for the best of our generation.
When his career is over, it will be easier to say just where he fits into the conversation. However, even now, it is a sure thing that some will have him listed at the very top.
At the moment, nobody has managed to figure out how to beat the sensation from Japan, with “The Monster” having won all 33 of his professional fights.
With his last fight being a 7th straight defence of his undisputed super-bantamweight titles over Junto Nakatani, the four-weight champion has a few options regarding what he could do next.
Could any of those avenues end up going wrong for him? Let’s look at five fighters who might just be able to beat Naoya Inoue.
5. Angelo Leo.
The current IBF featherweight champion, Angelo ‘El Chinito’ Leo (26-1, 12 KOs) is also the former WBO super-bantamweight titlist. His only loss is to Stephen Fulton, who Inoue defeated to become unified at 122 pounds.
Since that defeat, Leo has gone on a six-fight win streak, shockingly knocking out Luis Alberto Lopez to seize his second belt in 2024. And since then, he has defended it against Tomoki Kameda over in Japan.
That was over a year ago, and Leo hasn’t fought since, with a planned bout against Ra’eese Aleem falling through last month. Against Inoue, he would be a massive underdog, but perhaps the Japanese fighter would be unsteady in the unfamiliar waters of featherweight.
Hey, anything is possible.
4. Brandon Figueroa.
Another former super-bantamweight champion whose only losses have come to Stephen Fulton, Brandon ‘The Heartbreaker’ Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs) recently won the WBA featherweight belt in an upset win over Nick Ball.
Before then, Figueroa’s previous reign as featherweight champion had ended at the hands of Fulton, who was also responsible for Figueroa losing his title at the weight below.
But while many had felt he was on the decline, the American’s last win definitely breathed some new life into his career. And at 5’9″, the powerful pressure fighter could really test just how Inoue would fare against a large 126-pounder.
He would definitely be an outsider against the Japanese great, but as his ring moniker suggests, Figueroa knows a thing or two about breaking hearts.
3. Bruce Carrington.
One of the rare few who have actively been calling Inoue out, Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington (17-0, 10 KOs) represents a different stylistic challenge to the previously mentioned fighters.
A slickster with power, the Brooklynite knocked out Carlos Castro in his last fight to become the WBC featherweight champion, and he is scheduled to make his first defence against Rene Palacios next month.
Someone whose promise was noticed very early in his career, Carrington is a full-fledged featherweight who would provide Inoue with a very interesting set of problems to overcome.
There are already some American fans who believe Carrington could have the beating of the pound-for-pound king. That remains to be seen, but Carrington certainly seems very confident in his chances.
2. Rafael Espinoza.
The most interesting proposition when it comes to any matchup in the featherweight division, Rafael ‘El Divino’ Espinoza (28-0, 24 KOs) is generally considered the best fighter at the weight.
Since winning the WBO featherweight title with an upset decision over Robeisy Ramirez at the end of 2023, Espinoza has made four successful defences.
What really makes the Mexican stand out, though, is his size. At 6’1″, he is the tallest featherweight champion in boxing history. And with such a distinction, it’s possible he could essentially cheat code his way to a victory over Inoue.
With the Japanese fighter never having fought at the weight before, it would be a very big risk to face the biggest guy the poundage has ever seen to start off with.
While Inoue is undoubtedly the superior technician, Espinoza’s power and the sheer absurdity of his physical dimensions may just be too big a gap for him to cross.
Maybe.
1. Jesse Rodríguez.
Lastly, we look at the man who the majority consider the most likely to inflict Inoue with the first defeat of his career.
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodríguez (24-0, 17 KOs) is currently the WBA bantamweight champion, having beaten Antonio Vargas to achieve this status.
Previously a unified champion at both flyweight and super-flyweight, people in boxing have been hypothetically matching Rodríguez up with Inoue for a few years. But with the two now being just one weight apart, the prospect of a fight between them taking place is a lot less mythical than it once was.
Reports suggest that Rodríguez is currently looking to unify at bantamweight before stepping up to Inoue’s domain. If/when they collide, it would be a meeting of two future Hall-of-Famers who are both presently undefeated multi-weight champions on the pound-for-pound list.
Boxing itself would rejoice at such a pairing. How could you go wrong?
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