Inoue out to prove pound-for-pound credentials against Akhmadaliev / Photo: Philip FONG - AFP
Inoue out to prove pound-for-pound credentials against Akhmadaliev
Japan's unbeaten Naoya Inoue said he wants to prove he is boxing's pound-for-pound king against Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev on Sunday, hours after Canelo Alvarez squares off against Terence Crawford.
Inoue defends his undisputed super-bantamweight world titles in Nagoya against former two-belt champion Akhmadaliev, who has been described as the Japanese fighter's most dangerous opponent yet.
Inoue has a 30-0 record with 27 knockouts and became the first Japanese boxer to top Ring Magazine's prestigious pound-for-pound rankings as the best fighter across all weight divisions in 2022.
Mexico's undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez puts his belts on the line against American Crawford, who is moving up two weight divisions for the bout in Las Vegas.
The fight has reopened debate over who is boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter and Inoue wants to make sure his name stays in the conversation.
"I'm looking forward to that fight but the fight I'm looking forward to more is Naoya Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev, and I'd like to concentrate on that," the 32-year-old said on Friday.
"I'd like to give a performance worthy of a pound-for-pound champion."
Inoue stopped American Ramon Cardenas in the eighth round in Las Vegas in his previous bout, the first time the boxer known as "Monster" had fought outside Japan in four years.
He was knocked down for only the second time in his career but climbed off the canvas to stop Cardenas.
Inoue was also knocked down in his win over Mexico's Luis Nery last year and the Japanese fighter said he had learned from his mistakes.
"I asked myself over and over why I had been knocked down twice and I know the answer," he said.
"It's precisely because I had that experience that I can turn it to my advantage in this fight."
Akhmadaliev won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics before embarking on a professional career that saw him hold the WBA and IBF super-bantamweight world titles between 2020 and 2023.
The 30-year-old, who has a 14-1 record with 11 KOs, beat Mexico's Luis Castillo in May.
Akhmadaliev said he had "not come to Japan for sightseeing".
"I came to win the belt and make history," he said. "I want to become world number one."
L.Scott--EWJ
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