Of all the world title fights taking place this coming weekend perhaps one of them stands out as a horrible mismatch, where the champion is so strongly expected to retain his title that fans may not be excited by the match in question. Saying that however those same fans are likely to be excited by the favourite, simply because he is such an exceptional talent, and it's hard not to be excited about the fighter, even if the bout is likely to be a mismatch. That bout will see WBO Super Flyweight champion Naoya Inoue (12-0, 10) return to the ring to make the 5th defense of his title, and take on WBO #2 ranked contender Ricardo Rodriguez (16-3, 5), who is getting his first world title fight. Rodriguez will be widely viewed as a man being thrown to the slaughter, and typically that's a type of fight fans don't like, however when a fighter is a good as Inoue then fans are happy just to see someone like him fight. The Japanese youngster was ear marked for success from way back in the amateurs, which he dominated domestically. That talent saw him being snapped up by Ohashi gym as a teenager and being guided quickly through the rankings. The rise saw Inoue claim a Japanese title in his 4th fight, an OPBF title in his 5th bout and a world title in his 6th bout. During that rise the showed tremendous speed, skill, accuracy and scary power. Those traits allowed him to jump from Light Flyweight to Super Flyweight, and destroy Omar Andres Narvaez to become a 2-weight champion in just 8 career bouts. As a Super Flyweight champion Inoue has been impressive without really showing how good he actually is. He ended a year long break from the ring, due to hand injuries, by dismantling Warlito Parrenas in 2 rounds, then re-injured his hand a bout later in a 1-sided 12 round decision win over David Carmona. A 1-sided win over Petchbarngborn Kokietgym followed but again didn't show Inoue shine, in fact he showed some ring-immaturity in that bout. Most recently he stopped the teak tough Kohei Kono, in probably his best performance since winning the title. Although Inoue hasn't looked his best recently, he's still been head and shoulders better than anyone he's faced and has shown all sorts. He can box, he can bang, he can brawl, he can move and he can counter. There are flaws, mostly defensive ones, with Inoue but he's so destructive and looks so physically tough that a fighter will have to not only exploit his flaws, and there are very few, but also avoid being tagged themselves. Whilst Inoue is regarded as one of the best little men in the sport, with wins over 4 men who have held world titles, less is known about Rodriguez. The 27 year is an American based Mexican born fighter who debuted in 2011 and has mixed in decent company, but never really shown that he belongs in the ring with someone like Inoue. In fact it's fair to say that his most notable results have been two competitive losses to former Inoue foe David Carmona. His best wins have been over Jonathan Vidal, Miguel Cartagena and David Quijano and Carlos Narvaez, contender types but not champion level fighters. Known as "Meserito" the 27 year old has spent his time fighting between the US and Mexico, having gone 9-0 in the US and 7-3 in Mexico. This will be his first bout outside of those two countries and he comes into it in good form, having won his last 4 bouts. From the footage he's an aggressive fighter with nice body shots and a good output, but nothing sensational, and his defense doesn't seem to be the tightest, with his foot work looking slow and his power being less than imposing. Arguably his most impressive attribute looks to be his hand speed and he does throw some lovely flash combinations. Although he's faced some good opponents this is a huge step up in class for Rodriguez and it's clear that with the travel and the top class opponent that he's up against he's going to be the under-dog. He's a decent fighter, but this really is a whole different level to what he's been competing at. Hee's in with someone who will out manoeuvred him, out speed him and out punch him, and the flurries he has had success with will be countered here. What we're expecting is for Inoue to invite the pressure, and look to land some vicious counter shots, looking for a finish in the middle rounds ahead of his US debut in September. Rodriguez will come to fight, and will have his moments, but simply won't be able to cope when Inoue goes through the gears. Rodriguez has never been stopped before, but it's hard to see him last 12 rounds here with the Monster.
0 Comments
On the final two days of 2016 Japanese fight fans will get a series of world title bouts, ranging from intriguing rematches to complete mismatches. One of the most anticipated of those bouts will see WBO Super Flyweight champion Naoya Inoue (11-0, 9) return to the ring to seek his 4th defense of the title, as he takes on former 2-time WBA champion Kohei Kono (32-9-1, 13), and looks to secure one of the most notable wins of his career. If you ask a typical western boxing fan right now what Japanese fighters they could name Inoue will be one of the few names on their lips, a sad fact in many ways but one that shows the appeal of the “Monster” who has been named dropped across Western boxing media, including by HBO. The 23 year old Kanagawa fighter isn't just a name who has been dropped by Western media but also by every hardcore fight fan, many of whom have seen Inoue fight either live on Fuji TV or on Youtube, and understandably they have been impressed by a youngster who combines exceptional skills, power and speed. Inoue burst out in 2014 when he claimed the WBC Light Flyweight title, stopping Adrian Hernandez in 6 rounds, and then went on to claim the WBO Super Flyweight title with a stoppage against Omar Andres Narvaez. Those bouts saw Inoue prove he was the monster and saw him claiming world titles in his 6th and 8th bouts as a professional, with the win over Narvaez exciting people to a potential show down with Roman Gonzalez. Although Inoue hasn't looked his best in recent bouts, wins over David Carmona and Petchbarngborn Kokietgym, he has been plagued by issues including over-training and over-looking his opponents. Coming in to the bout with Kono however he has cut back his training and will have taken Kono seriously, knowing this is a huge chance to remind fans just how good he is, how fast he is and how destructive he is. During a 42 fight career Kono has been one of boxing's true over-achievers. He lost on debut back in November 2000 and suffered his second lost in his 10th bout to fall to 8-2 (2). He again fell to a loss in 2005 as his record fell to 14-3 (4). At that point his career could easily have fallen by the way side but instead he took lessons from those losses and avenged that third defeat less than 2 years later as he claimed the Japanese Super Flyweight title, his first professional title. He would later unify with the OPBF title in 2008 but failed to claim a world title in his first attempt, losing in a thriller to Nobuo Nashiro. A second loss at world level occurred in 2010, to Tomas Rojas, before he suffered losses to Yota Sato and Yohei Tobe, falling to 25-7 (9). Amazingly since the start of 2012 Kono's career has gone 7-2-1 (4) with wins against Petchbarngborn Kokietgym, Tepparith Kokietgym, to claim his first world title, Denkaosan Kaovichit, to claim his second title, Koki Kameda and Inthanon Sithchamuang whilst losses have come in close decisions to to Liborio Solis and Luis Concepcion. In the ring Kono is an incredibly tough man, he has been down several times during his career, and has been hurt even more often, but has never stopped coming forward and trying to fight. Although tougher than old boots Kono is technically limited, a bit slow, and likes to walk forward before letting his hands go. He's solid with a high work rate and a great energy level but he doesn't really work to get his way in and instead applies often clumsy pressure, allowing fighters to out work and out move him. Whilst Inoue's last few opponents haven't been exceptional it's fair to say Kono is genuine world class. Sadly though Inoue has been better against top opponents than against the lesser foes and his father has set a more relaxed training regime this time, to help prevent injuries. With that in mind we're expecting to see the best Inoue to date, and we're expecting to see him use his speed and power to dismantle a tough, and brave, Kono within 9 rounds. For a second day running we get the chance to see a Super Flyweight world title fight, essentially giving us lower weight fight fans a brilliant one two, and in fact it will be third bout in the division in less than a week. This time we see Japanese star, and current WBO champion, Naoya Inoue (10-0, 8) defending his title against Thai veteran Petchbarngborn Kokietgym (38-7-1, 18). The bout, the headline bout of a card at the Sky Arena in Zama, sees Inoue returning to fight at home for the first time since he took the Japanese title in the same arena more than 3 years ago. The bouts in between have all taken place in Tokyo. For Petchbarngborn sees him returning to Japan for the first time in almost 3 years, following a 2nd round TKO defeat to Sho Ishida in Osaka. For the champion this will be his third defense of the title that he won in incredible fashion at the end of 2014, when he demolished Omar Andres Narvaez in 2 rounds. Since that win he has been plagued with hand injuries however he has still light up the boxing scene when he has fought, with a particularly impressive return to the ring last December against Warlito Parrenas. Despite looking impressive against Narvaez and Parrenas Inoue was made to look human last time out, at times, as he went the distance with mandatory challenger David Carmona. Although he went the 12 round distance for the first time Inoue showed that he had the stamina to do 12 and came close to scoring a stoppage in the final seconds. At his best Inoue is nothing short of breath taking. He's lightning quick, incredibly fluid and makes the sport of boxing look natural. He's incredibly calm in the ring, controls range with easy and make offensive boxing an art form with combinations that many fighters can only dream of. Not only does he have the speed and skill to do magical things in the ring but the power, with both hands, to really hurt fighters. The Thai, who boxrec now list by his birth name of Karoon Jarupianlerd, is a bit of an under-whelming challenger for Inoue, though in many ways is a man who knows he has a great opportunity. That opportunity however has arisen mostly on the basis that the top fighters in the division are all booked up with other fights, mostly mandatory title bouts. He has also gotten this opportunity following Paul Butler's inability to make weight, with Butler having had to pull out of an eliminator with the Thai earlier in the year. Petchbarngborn has experience of fighting in Japan with 5 bouts in country prior to facing Inoue. Sadly for the Thai however he is 1-4 in the country, with his sole stoppage loss coming in his last visit to the country, when Sho Ishida stopped him in 2 rounds. It would be easy to write him off given his form in Japan however he ran Kohei Kono incredibly close 4 years ago and blasted out Tomoya Kaneshiro at the end of 2012. Coming in to this one the Thai is riding a 16 fight winning run, with 9 wins by T/KO, they may not have come against great opponents but his confidence will be high thanks to that run. He is also an improved fighter to the one who fought Ishida and looks like a fighter who has developed some solid skills. Despite having solid skills he is, all honestly, a long way from having any world class ability, and to beat Inoue a fighter needs to be world class in a lot of areas. For Inoue the bout really should be a showcase defense, a quick blow out and a chance to test out the hands, both of which were bruised last time out against Carmona. However the pressure is on him to look good with all the attention being on him moving towards a bout with the winner of next weekend's WBC title bout between Carlos Cuadras and Roman Gonzalez. Petchbarngborn will be looking to play the spoiler to Inoue's potential mega-fight however we suspect the Thai's best hopes would be to put on a brave effort in a loss rather than look to score the upset of the year. Over the last few months we've seen the Japanese boxing scene change drastically. We've seen a number of retirements, a number of title changes and we've seen several of the top fighters begin to look their age. Whilst that sounds bad for Japanese boxing the truth is that the new wave of fighters already appear to be here, lead by WBO Super Flyweight champion Naoya Inoue (9-0, 8) [井上 尚弥] who returns to the ring on May 8th to defend his title against mandatory challenger David Carmona (20-2-5, 8). The Japanese 23 year old looks not only like a genuine star but looks like one of the most complete fighters on the planet, and a man who may well go one to not only “break America” but become a genuine sporting star. Out of the ring he's naturally charismatic, charming and in the ring he's exciting, aggressive and and a genuine phenomenon. It's easy to just look at his record and claim he's a novice but the reality is that he's a very special fighter and already holds notable wins over Ryoichi Taguchi, Adrian Hernandez and Omar Andres Narvaez, with the win over Narvaez being the win that really generated an international buzz about the “Monster”. In the ring Inoue combines frighting power with lightning speed and incredible boxing ability. Looking for a flaw in Inoue's boxing is next to impossible right now and almost everything he does looks incredibly fluid, as if he was a well oiled, perfectly designed fighting machine. For those who haven't followed Inoue they may have only seen a couple of his fights, perhaps only his destruction of Narvaez from late 2014, and his most recent bout against Warlito Parrenas. If they are the only two bouts you've seen you'd perhaps think he was just an incredible seek and destroy fighter. The reality however is that he's a brilliant pure boxer who can box on the back foot, as he did in his second bout against Ngaoprajan Chuwatana, and he can box and move, as he did against Yuki Sano, in a bout that he fought mostly 1-handed. He has become a seek and destroy fighter, but the reality is that he has a lot in his locker and we suspect he can pull what he needs, when he needs, if he needs. The fact he has shown an ability to box, bang, brawl and counter really is a worrying thing for his opponents, as is the fact the he appears to be getting better and already seems to have some of the best body punches, and combinations in world boxing. When it comes to the challenger there is, unfortunately, little that really stands out about the 25 year old Mexican. In fact in many ways he appears to be a man who really has done very, very, very little to deserve a mandatory title fight. His first bout of note came back in 2013, when he narrowly beat Danny Flores for the WBO Youth title, and after two defenses he was given his first world title fight. That world title fight ended with Carmona being stopped in 7 rounds by Narvaez back in December 2013, in what was impressively Carmona's 5th bout of the year. Since losing to Narvaez we've seen Carmona go 4-0-1, with the draw being a very contentious one against Warlito Parrenas in a bout that Carmona really should have lost. Notably the Parrenas bout was for the WBO “interim” title and the winner was supposed to face Inoue, instead both men have ended up facing Inoue given that Inoue beat Parrenas at the end of last year and will now be facing Carmona. Carmona's level seems to have been found out with his losses to Narvae and his draw with Parrenas. Although he has improved, and developed, the fact is that he's genuinely not a fighter who has anything to trouble Inoue with. As a result we suspect he will become the third successive victim to fall within 2 rounds against Inoue who will almost certainly be looking to make his US debut later this year. It's fair to say that the lower weights have had extra attention in the west over the past year. The leading fighter for that growth has been Nicaraguan sensation Roman Gonzalez, who has really helped awaken the US market to the talent in the typically over-looked smaller weights. Whilst Gonzalez has started to become a star in the US he's not the only name on the lips of hardcore fight fans who have been excited by the lower weights in recent years. Another fighter is Naoya Inoue (8-0, 7) who has unfortunately had a year to forget with the year effectively written off following hand injuries, injuries that have slowed his meteoric rise. Thankfully for Inoue, and for fight fans, those hand injuries have healed and on December 29th the youngster returns to make the first defense of the WBO Super Flyweight title that he won last December, when he blew away Omar Andres Narvaez. In the opposite corner will not be a patsy and instead it will be mandatory challenger Warlito Parrenas (24-6-1, 21), a heavy handed, aggressive and under-rated Filipino. As with most of Inoue's bouts so far this is a tough test, though as we've seen through out his career, he's a fighter who is significantly better than most out there, and in fact he could well be a future claimant to the #1 spot on the mythical pound-for-pound list. Inoue was pegged for stardom from his days as an amateur and and he has been raced to becoming a star. In just his 4th bout be claimed the Japanese Light Flyweight title, defeating current world champion Ryoichi Taguchi, a fight later he claimed the OPBF Light Flyweight title and then he claimed the WBC Light Flyweight title, stopping Adrian Hernandez. In just 8 fights has become a 2-weight world champion, one of the faces of Japanese boxing and a man who some are suggesting could be the man to finally end the long unbeaten run of Roman Gonzalez. He is, arguably, the leading figure in the next wave of Japanese superstars and is possibly the man to bring western TV cameras over to the east. At his best Inoue is a boxer-puncher with frightening power, alarming accuracy, blurring speed, an instinctive knowledge of what shots to through and a natural ring awareness. Although he's a boxer-puncher he has shown an ability to be a brawler, an outside fighter and a pure counter puncher. Looking for something that he lacks is like looking for a needle in a haystack, however if being overly critical there are some issues with his defense, at least when he's been a bit too comfortable against some opponents, and of course the hand issues, which hopefully will not reoccur in the future. Whilst in the ring Inoue is a sensation and one of the most natural fighters in the sport he does, of course, have a lot of pressure on his young shoulders. The 23 year old is viewed as being something special and knows that millions watch him in Japan on Fuji TV. He also knows that he is expected to perform like a star, despite spending a year out of the ring. He will also, perhaps, be worried about re-injuring the hand. The Inoue we see against Parrenas may not be the same Inoue that we saw destroy Narvaez and this is a real worry. When it comes to Parrenas we know we're talking about a much lower profile fighter than Inoue, but one who is himself incredibly exciting. The Filipino is a monstrous puncher, and has 12 stoppages in the first 3 rounds. He's a danger man early on but also dangerous late and has shown solid punching power late into fights, although he has never scored a stoppage after the 8th round. Not only is he heavy handed but he always comes to fight and has a great engine, as he showed last time out against David Carmona, where he fought at a high pace for 12 rounds. Whilst Parrenas is an aggressive banger here are certainly some issues with him. He has been stopped 4 times, and his chin is very questionable. He can certainly give it out, but it seems that he's not so good at taking it. Whilst it's fair to say that being stopped by Marlon Tapales and Jonathan Taconing isn't too bad he has also been stopped by Erwin Picardal and Oscar Blanquet, and was also dropped by Atsushi Kakutani, in a memorable 172 second bout. Those chin issues, especially early, could be a problem here, as is the fact he can be rather wild and wide and leaves himself open to counters, something that Inoue will take advantage of. Whilst Parrenas has been stopped 4 times, and beaten 6 times, he is currently on an unbeaten run of 7-0-1 and has gone 12-1-1 in his last 14. Those runs have shown that he's improved. He's beaten fighters like Kakutani, Koji Itagaki, Tomoya Kaneshiro and Espinos Sabu whilst also fighting to a draw with Carmona, in what seemed to be a very unfortunate result for Parrenas. The improvement in Parrenas has been impressive but it's still a huge step up in class for the Pinoy puncher. If Inoue is close to the fighter he was a year ago it's hard to see him losing to Parrenas, despite the danger that the Filipino brings. If however Inoue is rusty then Parrenas certainly has a chance to at least chin check the “Monster”. Our guess however is that Hideyuki Ohashi and Shingo Inoue wouldn't let Naoya fight unless they were confident he was fully healed, fully fit and had impressed in sparring. With that in mind we can't see anything but an Inoue stoppage, likely inside 5 rounds. In boxing we tend to see a fighter “managed” to a world title whilst being “promoted” in a way that generates a lot of money for both the fighter and his team without needing to take a lot of risks. In the west this is the general idea behind the match making philosophy which has, at times, lead to under-developed challengers, prospects who have failed to reach their potential. We've seen it numerous times in the past and we will continue to see it in the future. In some countries things are a little bit different. A prospect tipped for the top is pushed hard with the intention of shaking up the boxing world, not merely being managed to a title fight years down the line. It's this fast rising mentality which has been behind Naoya Inoue's (7-0, 6) incredibly 7 fight career. Yes he has only fought 7 times as a professional yet has already achieved more than men with multiple times as many fights as he has. Not happy with just winning a world title in his 6th bout Inoue will attempting to shake up the boxing world again as he attempts to become a 2-weight world champion in just his 8th professional bout. Again surpassing many fighters who fight their whole career in the hope of just fighting for a world title. Not only will Inoue be hoping to become a 2-weight champion in his coming bout, on December 30th, but he will be taking on the longest reigning champion in the division, Omar Andres Narvaez (43-1-2, 23). For those who don't know about the 21 year old Inoue we really need to ask where have you been the last couple of years? The youngster was tipped for stardom from the moment he partook in his pro-test, bashing up the then Japanese Light Flyweight champion Masayuki Kuroda. In his first bout he stopped Filipino national champion Crison Omayao, then took out Thailand's Ngaoprajan Chuwatana. After those 2 fights it was so obvious he was on the fast track to the top and in fight #4 he won the Japanese national Light Flyweight title, beating the then world ranked Ryoichi Taguchi by 10 round decision. A fight later he had added the OPBF title and announced his intention of winning a world title in very next fight. Inoue, unlike many fighters who talk of grandeur, wasn't just talking the talk and in fight #6 he stopped Adrian Hernandez to claim the WBC Light Flyweight title. Whilst some fighters may get “cheap” stoppages this certainly wasn't one, this wasn't the referee interjecting to be part of the fight, instead Inoue had broken Hernandez and made the Mexican quit. The physical strength, power, speed and technical ability of Inoue was just too much for Hernandez, despite the fact Inoue was himself suffering from cramps due to excessive weight loss. It was expected that Inoue would move up to 112lbs immediately after the win over Hernandez. Instead he did what champions should do and sealed his reign with a defense of the belt, stopping Thailand's Samartlek Kokietgym in the 11th round of their bout. It was the least impressive performance of Inoue's career though was still a dominant one. Now the youngster will be skipping Flyweight to battle against Narvaez at 115lbs. A weight that his team, including father-trainer Shingo Inoue, believes is his natural fighting weight. The step up in weight class is a major one as is the step up in quality. Hernandez was a credible world champion however Narvaez is a 2-weight world champion who has ruled at both Flyweight and Super Flyweight amassing a huge number of defenses. Not only is Narvaez a real champion but he is a man who's only loss so far has come against a much bigger man in Nonito Donaire, and even Donaire failed to ever really hurt the significantly smaller Narvaez. The reason Narvaez has gone so far in the sport is that he is very well schooled, very fit, physically strong and surprisingly fast. He's not a big puncher or the most imposing fighting in the division but he is one of the best out there. Defensively he can be as tight as anyone giving next to no target for a fighter, as shown in his bout with Donaire, whilst offensively his fast hands and careful counter-combinations can be grinding and chip away at an opponent. Worse yet for opponents is the fact that he's a southpaw, making him tricky as well as skilled, tough and fast. For many Japanese fans this will be the first time they've gotten to see Narvaez however it's not the first time he's fought a Japanese fighter. Just last year he became the first man to stop the tough Hiroyuki Hisataka, who visited Narvaez's homeland of Argentina and was halted in 10 rounds. That was one of 3 stoppages Narvaez has in his last 4 bouts however he's really not a puncher and looking at those results in isolation do give a misleading image of the Argentinian fighter. Aged 39 Narvaez is incredibly old for a Super Flyweight. He has been in world title fights since 2002 and has to be on the slide physically. That however wasn't seen last time out when he defeated Felipe Orucuta. The result might have been a majority decision on paper but what Pat Russell was watching is a mystery to us as it seemed a clear, yet competitive, win for the Argentinian who struggled for a few rounds before adapting and taking a clear win. Going into this bout there are a lot of questions for both men to answer. For Narvaez we do have to wonder what his 39 year old body is capable of, whether he is travelling to Japan for a payday and how he can cope with a fast, strong and powerful youngster. On the other hand we need to wonder how Inoue copes with a man capable of frustrating him with a shell like defense, how he copes with the new weight division and how he copes with a fighter who is as good as Narvaez. If Inoue is as good as he has looked so far, and as good as we think, we suspect he will manage to out work and out muscle the Argentinian. If Inoue isn't as sharp at Super Flyweight as he's looked in his Light Flyweight bouts, or if he lets his defense slip, as he has done at times in the past, he may be in trouble. We suspect Inoue is the real deal and will show it by using his fresh legs to keep the shorter fighter at range early on, racking up the rounds and making Narvaez move to plan B. When Narvaez falls behind we suspect he'll become more offensive and that will suit Inoue who would likely love a tear up with Narvaez believing himself to be the stronger and more powerful fighter. We think if Inoue gets the better of the action up close Narvaez will then turn to plan C, one based on survival and allow Inoue to take the win without running a risk of being stopped by the Japanese youngster. Our guess on the result, Inoue UD12. And with that win he'd have to be the front runner for the 2014 Fighter of the Year. (Image courtesy of http://www.ohashi-gym.com) Over the last 2 years there have been numerous fighters bursting on to the scene in one way or another. Some have gained more attention and hype than others and others have achieved more than many fighters do in their entire career. One of the men to fall into that second category is Japanese super stud Naoya Inoue (6-0, 5), a man who claimed a world title in just his 6th professional bout after being a professional for a mere 18 months. Aged 21 it's clear that Inoue has the potential to be an all-time great, in fact he has the tools to be the best Japanese fighter in history. It may sound like hyperbole but the potential for this youngster really is limitless. Last time out Inoue claimed the WBC Light Flyweight title by stopping Mexican Adrian Hernandez in just 6 rounds. The performance was sensational and saw many proclaiming him to be the best fighter at 108lbs. Sadly however he had struggled to make weight for the bout with Hernandez and it seemed almost certain that the fight with Hernandez was going to be Inoue's last at Light Flyweight. Instead however he will continue at the weight for one more fight, defending his world title against Thailand's Samartlek Kokietgym (17-4, 5) in what really is seen as a mismatch. Though for Inoue it's a chance to defend his belt before moving on, something he never did as the Japanese or OPBF champion. Although viewed as a lamb to the slaughter Samartlek is himself a champion, albeit a PABA champion at 105lbs. Sadly however not only is he moving up a division but he is also facing his best opponent to date in Inoue. Saying that Samartlek has mixed with solid company in the past. He holds a very good win over Muhammad Rachman and a notable one over Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr whilst he has suffered losses to Denver Cuello and Randy Petalcorin, both of whom are world class fighters. Sadly those losses are more notable than the wins with Cuello stopping Samartlek in 9 rounds. Samartlek is, on paper, on a good run with 9 successive victories including wins this year over Samuel Tehuayo and Domi Nenokeba, both via 6 round decision. Unfortunately that 9 fight streak has seen him scoring just 2 stoppages indicating a real lack of power. Another thing Samartlek lacks is size, even for a fighter in the lowest weights he looks tiny, in fact he sort of looks like a school boy. He has decent enough movement though nothing that should make a world class fighter worry. With Inoue being a destructive force the only issue he has here is complacency. He has said he's looking for a quick win and if he's not careful that could be his downfall. He has all the advantages in terms of skills, power, speed, size and strength though he will need to keep his head straight and focus on scoring a win rather than looking amazing. If he mows down Samartlek inside a round then that'll be a great way to wave goodbye to 108lbs. If he needs to take a hard fought decision win then he shouldn't feel disappointed with himself. Aged 21 however we all know he'll want to impress the fans and the boxing public who have tuned in to see if he is as good as people say. For what it's worth, he really is as good as people say. (Image courtesy of our great friends at http://www.thairec.com) One great thing about boxing in the East is that top prospects aren't held back. If you're good enough to swim with sharks you're allowed to swim and go for it. This has been seen time and time again with fighters like Kazuto Ioka who has proven himself capable of beating the best in the world. The next Japanese fighter who is trying to prove that he's more advanced than his record shows is the 20 year old super stud Naoya Inoue (5-0, 4) who, in just his 6th professional contest, looks to set a Japanese national record for the fewest fights to win a world title. In turn that would see Inoue breaking the record of Ioka who took 7 fights to claim the WBC Minimumweight title. When it comes to Inoue he was always earmarked for an early world title fight. Some reports suggested that Inoue would actually fight for a world title in his 3rd professional bout in an attempt to tie the long standing record of Saensak Muangsurin. Whilst that record was never really in the mind of Hideyuki Ohashi, the chairman of the Ohashi boxing Gym which promotes and trains Inoue, it showed how highly Inoue was regarded. It wasn't just promotional hype that was behind Inoue from the off. He was a stand out amateur, a 7 time national champion, a fighter who was respected by the naturally bigger and more mature Ryota Murata, a fighter who beat up the world ranked Masayuki Kuroda in a public sparring test and more importantly he was someone with a natural look about him as a boxer. That once in a life time natural ability that made everything look so effortless. The big test for Inoue however is this coming Sunday as he takes on Mexico's Adrian Hernandez (29-2-1, 18), the current WBC Light Flyweight champion and a man that many view as the top fighter in the 108lb division. This isn't Inoue trying to pick up an easy title to break the national record but is instead Inoue attempting to supplant himself as the top dog of his division and prove that he's as good as people say. Before we look at Hernandez lets just look at what we've seen of Inoue so far. On his debut he showed a sharp jab, fantastic judgement of distance and exceptional body shots as he stopped the Filipino champion Crison Omayao in the 4th of a scheduled 8 rounds. It wasn't a punch perfect debut but it wasn't far off. In his second pro bout he showed perfect timing and a fast boxing brain as he landed a brutal counter left hook. His third bout let him show off his speed, accuracy and jab as he dismantled Yuki Sano pretty much one handed in an a really stunning showing. Inoue's toughest bout came in his fourth contest as he took on the then reigning Japanese Light Flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi and was forced to work hard for the victory over 10 rounds. It was the first fight where his power didn't make an opponent feel too uncomfortable but his physical strength certainly took it's toll on Taguchi who was looked tired in the later rounds. It was the brute strength of Inoue that was on show in his most recent bout as he just steam rolled Jerson Mancio in an OPBF title fight in 5 rounds. Although just a novice Inoue has already been in 30 pro rounds, he has experienced round 10 twice, he has done 100's of rounds of sparring with world level fighters, including stable mate and current world champion Akira Yaegashi, and has had the best preparation he could possibly have by facing a former Hernandez opponent Atsushi Kakutani. With 33 fights under his belt there is no doubting Hernandez's experience. He not only has more than 6 times as many fights as Inoue but he also had a total of 179 rounds, almost 6 times as many as Inoue, and has been in 9 world title bouts. That's almost twice as many world title bouts as Inoue has had total bouts. Like Inoue, Hernandez impressed early in his career and within 2 years of being a professional had beaten both Rodel Mayol and Gilberto Keb Baas, both of whom went on to win world titles and had previously fought in world title bouts. Although he started well Hernandez did run into problem when he saw his unbeaten record get destroyed by Oscar Ibarra who stopped him in 6 rounds. Details of the actual bout are scarce to say the least but it may well have shown that Hernandez wasn't the must durable of fighters out there. Following the loss to Ibarra we saw Hernandez rebuild really well stringing together 9 straight wins including a WBC title victory and a solitary defence before losing to Kompayaka Porpramook in an all out war in Thailand. The Porpramook bout was a thriller that saw both men trading shots for 10 rounds before Hernandez suffered to the combination of Porpramook's body attack and the heat. Whilst the Mexican would later avenge the loss it did suggest that Hernandez could be broken down with a determined and prolonged body assault. Since the loss to Porpramook we've seen Hernandez has go 7-0 (4) with a victory in a rematch over Porpramook, to reclaim the world title, as well as 4 defences including the one over Kakutani late last year. Surprisingly in that bout, against Kakutani, Hernandez was dropped in the opening round though did come back very well to stop the Japanese fighter, though it did lead us to suggest Hernandez isn't as good as some may think he is. When we look at Hernandez we don't look at a naturally talented fighter. Instead we look at a heavy handed, much more so than his record indicates, fighter who is relatively slow though very big for the weight and has a remarkable 6 foot wingspan, freakish for a fighter in the lower weights. Although he's rangy and tall Hernandez doesn't always fight like the tall fighter and can be dragged in to a battle, as he was against Porpramook in Thailand, fairly easily. Most interestingly however is the fact that he's also lacking the foot work one tends to expect with a tall fighter. He's actually remarkably flat footed for a world class fighter and against a speedy opponent he could probably be made to look rather stupid. For Inoue the danger is getting tagged cleanly by Hernandez. If that happens the Japanese youngster could be in trouble however we think that Inoue will be smarter than that, he'll not think that Hernandez is a guy their to be steam rolled like Mancio was. Instead Inoue will try to feel out Hernandez, he'll get the jab going from the off, stay on his toes and try to let Hernandez tag his guard a few times. If he feels comfortable at handling Hernandez's power after taking a few on the arms and gloves he will likely move inside and engage in trench warfare with the Mexican. If he doesn't feel comfortable, for whatever reason, we expect to see the educated jab of Inoue's being the key with Inoue jabbing and moving, taking advantage of the slow foot work of Hernandez. Of course Hernandez gas a great chance, he's experienced, he's big and he's powerful but we're going for an Inoue decision despite a few shaky moments for the highly touted "Monster". (Image courtesy of Ohashi Gym) |
World Title Previews
The biggest fights get broken down as we try to predict who will come out on top in the up coming world title bouts. Archives
October 2022
Categories
All
|