Meet the 5ft 5in Japanese star with arms like knitting needles who turns into a Monster and boxing great inside the ring
MONSTERS, by definition, are expected to be cruel, frightening or evil giants – not small angelic-looking Japanese who don’t appear strong enough to knock over a dish of sushi.
It’s highly unlikely that Naoya Inoue is cruel or evil but once he steps inside a boxing ring he’s certainly frightening.
Inoue, known globally as The Monster has abnormal power for someone who stands just 5ft 5in tall, weighs less than nine stone and has arms the width of knitting needles.
He happens to be one of only three men who have become undisputed champion in two weight divisions — the others being Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk.
This assures Inoue a place in boxing’s pantheon of all-time greats whose name will always be revered along with legends ancient and modern like Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao.
Inoue who has held world titles in four weight divisions was defending his super-bantamweight belts against Aussie-based Irishman TJ Doheny at the Ariake stadium on Tuesday night in Tokyo.
Because Tokyo is eight hours ahead of London the fight was shown live on Sky at lunchtime — it was certainly an unusual time of day but a wonderful opportunity to see this freak of nature in action.
Astonishingly Inoue had won 26 of his 27 world championship contests by knockout and the main interest was to see just how long 37-year-old veteran Doheny, a former IBF champion, was going to last.
Watching Inoue going to work is a revelation — he is fast, accurate, never wastes a single punch and every blow he lands seems to hurt the opposition.
His dead-pan expression never changes and he has only one objective from the opening bell — to finish off his challengers as quickly as possible.
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Doheny must have known in his heart of hearts he had no chance of winning so he simply went on a defensive survival course to protect his chin.
Inoue decided the only way he was going to get him out of there sooner than later was to switch his attack downstairs and he started ripping in crippling body punches with both hands.
At the end of the sixth, a grimacing Doheny sickened by the pain he must have been feeling looked as if he had aged another ten years as he went back to his corner.
Within seconds of the start of the seventh Inoue landed a fearsome left hook under Doheny’s ribs — a punch which literally paralysed him down his right side and he was forced to quit.
It was business as usual for Inoue — though he would have preferred a far more spectacular finish with Doheny being counted out he has now won all his 28 fights, with 25 by KO.
He boasts a remarkable knockout ratio of more than 90 per cent — to emphasise how extraordinary that statistic is Rocky Marciano’s KO ration was 87 per cent, George Foreman’s 84 per cent, Frank Bruno’s, 84 per cent and Mike Tyson’s 78 per cent.
Inoue will make another defence in Tokyo before the end of this year and his promoter Bob Arum said he will feature him in Las Vegas at the beginning of 2025.
Watching Inoue going to work is a revelation — he is fast, accurate, never wastes a singe punch and every blow he lands seems to hurt the opposition
COLIN HART
Naoya rarely appears outside of Japan but those at ringside in Glasgow’s SSE Hydro, five years ago must have realised they were seeing someone special when he took just over four minutes to destroy Puerto Rican, Emmanuel Rodriguez to win the IBF world bantamweight crown.
Inoue, 31, who married his childhood sweetheart and is father of three children, has proved you don’t have to be be swinging a sword to be a Samurai warrior.