Naoya Inoue Challenged by 3-Weight Ex-World Champ as Turki Alalshikh’s Japan vs. Mexico Plan Takes Backseat After Naoya Inoue defeated Murodjon Akhmadaliev, his plans for Japan vs. Mexico event met wi

On Sunday morning, Naoya Inoue retained his undisputed super bantamweight crown with a dominant unanimous decision win over Murodjon Akhmadaliev at the IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan. The judges scored it 117-111, 118-110, and 118-110, all in favor of ‘The Monster,’ who further cemented his position as No. 2 on The Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list, just behind Oleksandr Usyk. This marked Inoue’s seventh victory in just 26 months.

He cleaned out the division by defeating Stephen Fulton, Marlon Tapales, Luis Nery, TJ Doheny, Ye Joon Kim, Ramon Cardenas, and now Akhmadaliev. By contrast, Usyk has fought only three times and has no plans to step into the ring again in 2025. With that in mind, a strong case could be made for Inoue to claim the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot – a point he himself rai