Naoya Inoue, widely considered one of boxing`s top pound-for-pound fighters, appeared to have his 2025 schedule firmly planned out months ago. However, it now seems those plans are likely to be altered.
So far this year, Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs) has successfully defended his undisputed super-bantamweight championship twice. First, he stopped Ye Joon Kim in the fourth round in January, followed by a more challenging bout last month against Ramon Cardenas. After the Cardenas fight, a match against Murodjon Akhmadaliev was confirmed for September.
The prevailing expectation was that following the Akhmadaliev fight, Inoue would ascend to the featherweight division (126 lbs). Reports suggested he would challenge Nick Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs) for the WBA title in Saudi Arabia in December, before then dropping back down to super-bantamweight for a highly anticipated showdown with Junto Nakatani early next year.
However, reports from Yahoo Japan indicate that the unexpected knockdown suffered against Cardenas at 122 lbs, combined with concerns about the difficulty of returning to a lower weight after moving up, have led to “ongoing discussions about scrapping that original plan.”
As Inoue is currently campaigning in his fourth professional weight class, moving up to 126 lbs for December would give him only about three months to prepare physically for the compact yet formidable Nick Ball. Subsequently, he would need to lose four pounds to return to 122 lbs for a fight against Nakatani.
An alternative strategy reportedly being considered by Inoue`s team is to remain at super-bantamweight for another title defense in Saudi Arabia later this year, possibly against undefeated contenders Sam Goodman (20-0, 8 KOs) or Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs). This would be followed by the Nakatani fight in the Spring, with a permanent move to featherweight occurring after that.
Addressing the potential move to 126 lbs, Inoue`s father, Shingo Inoue, told Yahoo Japan that while his son *could* theoretically maintain his physique and box cautiously for a points victory against Ball, this approach goes against “The Monster`s” core fighting philosophy.
Shingo stated, “I think super-bantamweight is best for him. He`s not tall. I believe he feels his power is most effective up to featherweight. I`ve said this for a while, but even if he moves higher, he could avoid losing to anyone if he remains calm, uses movement, and boxes for points.”
“However,” he continued, “Naoya`s pride wouldn`t allow for that kind of fight. Nobody wants to see Naoya looking bloated and just boxing defensively, right?”
“Naoya`s fundamental philosophy won`t permit it,” Shingo emphasized, adding, “but at featherweight, if he wants to maintain his well-loved aggressive style, he will need to train at full capacity and truly challenge himself.”
