Naoya Inoue next three fights mapped out by Bob Arum including clash with KO artist that everyone wants to see

03/09/2024 20:55

Naoya Inoue has a clear plan in place after scoring his ninth consecutive knockout victory on Tuesday afternoon.

‘The Monster’ broke down and stopped TJ Doheny with 16 seconds remaining in the seventh round at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo to retain his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF super bantamweight titles.

He was initially expected to face IBF mandatory Sam Goodman this summer, however, the Aussie was sidelined by a broken hand.

According to Inoue’s promoter Bob Arum, who spoke to esteemed boxing journalist Lance Pugmire after Inoue-Doheny, that fight is now set to take place next.

The plan is for Inoue and Goodman to duke it out in the Japanese capital on Christmas Eve to close out the year in style.

Providing he comes out of that fight unscathed, Inoue will then return in April on a Las Vegas bill that will include a separate bout involving Junto Nakatani with the aim of setting up a Tokyo Dome clash between the pair.

Nakatani has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young fighters in the world.

The Japanese star boasts an unblemished 28-0 record and is a huge puncher with 21 knockout wins to his name.

Despite only being 26 years old, Nakatani is already a three-weight world champion having picked up world titles at flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight.

He is currently in possession of the WBC bantamweight belt and defended it two months ago by blasting out Vincent Astrolabio inside the opening stanza.

Nakatani is expected to meet Inoue at super bantamweight so it is highly likely he will make his 122lbs debut either in April or before then.

Boxing fans have been clambering to see Japan’s two biggest stars collide in the ring for quite some time and Nakatani is just as excited by the prospect.

Speaking to The Boxing Mob two months ago, he said: “Bantamweight right now is good.

“But after one or two more fights it may be hard to make the weight so I want to move up…

“I want to unify with any champion and then move up…

“Of course, this fight (with Inoue) is one of our goals, a big match.

“I think there is still a lot of work to be done toward that point…

“If I beat Inoue I think I will get a lot of recognition. Pound-for-pound I have a goal to be ranked No.1.

“So I think this will be a very big match toward that goal.”