Naoya Inoue Is 20-0 (18 KO) In Title Fights...

[Elheath]

In a span of one minute, I randomly scrolled the forum and see a thread with Inoue in the title that perked my interest, but then saw who started it and cringed, debated very hard with myself whether I want to join in on a post that I can already assume will have no worthy content except the certified Inoue hater disguised as an obsessed lover to spread crazy unintelligent posts about him to bring out other haters, and ultimately decided to add my opinion after all.

I think the fact that Inoue hasn't ended a match without a world title since his 5th match of his career spanning 4 divisions so far makes it more impressive than simply being 18ko in 20 matches.
6th match win first world title at 108
8th match win second division world title at first match in 115
15th match win third division world title on his first match at 118, albeit it was the fake "Regular" belt, but cancels it out by clearing out the division
25th match win fourth division world title in his first match at 122

And yes, Chocolatito can claim money was the issue for taking Cuadras instead of Inoue for his first belt at 115, but to not accept Inoue's unification offer after the match which he was there, only to take a voluntary defense against a beltless SSR was a duck. Him losing further made the choice dumb. Estrada was taking it very slow in 115 and didn't even get a belt until after Inoue went up to 118. Ancajas simply refused.

[BenjaminLinus]

I love Naoya Inoue!

[Eff Pandas]

Belt fights could mean anything as far as quality opposition. Lotsa bs belt ranked guys.

Fighting indie top ten guys is a more meaningful stat & I'm sure Monster has a good record vs those types too but not quite 80% of his fights like this is.

[BenjaminLinus]

Belt fights could mean anything as far as quality opposition. Lotsa bs belt ranked guys.

Fighting indie top ten guys is a more meaningful stat & I'm sure Monster has a good record vs those types too but not quite 80% of his fights like this is.

He's fought and KO'd the #1 ranked guy by TBRB and/or the Ring in four weight divisions. His bantamweight run had him KOing the #1, #2, #3, and #4 ranked guys.

Zero cherry picking in his career.

[Eff Pandas]

He's fought and KO'd the #1 ranked guy by TBRB and/or the Ring in four weight divisions. His bantamweight run had him KOing the #1, #2, #3, and #4 ranked guys.

Zero cherry picking in his career.

He's beaten a lot of quality guys. Who's disagreeing with that?

I'm simply saying belt fights don't mean quality opps so this stat doesn't mean all that much esp cuz lower weight divisions are notoriously as thin as some female divisions & in general belt rankings are sh^tty. Monster vs top ten indie ranked guys likely is similarly impressive, but more realistic to quality opps he's beaten.

[gauze]

Chocolatito is on record turning down a fight with Inoue because he didn't think Inoue was well known enough for it to make enough money to satisfy him. So he took a different fight instead, then got knocked out, and tied up the aforementioned guys in rematches. Meanwhile Inoue moved up and made a huge name and the rest is history. It's literally fact. You might have missed it because you don't pay attention to the lower weight classes, but that's your bias, nothing more.

this is probably along the lines of it, i don't follow the sport the way i used to, especially below 135.

Two of the four have admitted to taking other offers instead of fighting Inoue.

And you just likely explained why they wouldn't fight him, because American fans didn't know who TF he was, and he was the most dangerous opponent.

Inoue moved up to 118 for the WBSS tournament instead of fighting Cuadras who was coming off a loss and had no title. I think that's a far better move, considering most "fans" would say "WHY IS HE FIGHTING CUADRAS?!? CUADRAS JUST LOST!! WHAT A BUM!! SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT CHOCO!"

nobody in those divisions are huge celebrities in america. i'm sure there were some promotional/network issues involved since most of those super flyweights were on HBO though. i don't recall anyone complaining about cuadras fighting any of the other 115 guys after losing a close fight to chocolatito. boxing fans will b1tch and complain about most fights/fighters though, as can be seen with my posts in this thread lol

[BenjaminLinus]

He's beaten a lot of quality guys. Who's disagreeing with that?

I'm simply saying belt fights don't mean quality opps so this stat doesn't mean all that much esp cuz lower weight divisions are notoriously as thin as some female divisions & in general belt rankings are sh^tty. Monster vs top ten indie ranked guys likely is similarly impressive, but more realistic to quality opps he's beaten.

I agree that belts can be trash (especially secondary WBA titles), but going 20-0 with 18 KOs is still an insane achievement. When belts are on the line, the opponents are hungrier, train harder, and more often than not bring it to another level.

[crimsonfalcon07]

Belt fights could mean anything as far as quality opposition. Lotsa bs belt ranked guys.

Fighting indie top ten guys is a more meaningful stat & I'm sure Monster has a good record vs those types too but not quite 80% of his fights like this is.

His record against independently ranked top 10 is fully half his career. Most of them were top 4 when he fought them. There's no active boxer who has a record representing as high a level of competition. Not even close.

I'm also going to point out that, despite having fewer fighters in the lower weight classes on average, and smaller weight differences between classes, along with a lower percentage change between classes, the level of competition appears to be higher. It's far more rare to have guys that are able to go from class to class and be successful at the lower classes than the higher ones. There's not that many guys who have been able to go from, say, 105-108-112 and have success at 122 and up. Of the 22 quad champions, only 7 started below 122. In contrast, going from light to welterweight isn't that big of an accomplishment. It's more or less expected.

For instance, do you expect guys like Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, etc to eventually compete and do well at 147? I doubt anyone would be surprised. But do you think you'll see Bam Rodriguez or Sunny Edwards being successful at 122? Junto Nakatani doing well at 130?

I suspect because the money is so much worse at the lower weight classes, fighters can't make it unless they're able to compete at a high enough level, where it's easier to make a living at the more popular weight classes, even at lower skill levels.

[Eff Pandas]

His record against independently ranked top 10 is fully half his career. Most of them were top 4 when he fought them. There's no active boxer who has a record representing as high a level of competition. Not even close.

I'm also going to point out that, despite having fewer fighters in the lower weight classes on average, and smaller weight differences between classes, along with a lower percentage change between classes, the level of competition appears to be higher. It's far more rare to have guys that are able to go from class to class and be successful at the lower classes than the higher ones. There's not that many guys who have been able to go from, say, 105-108-112

I couldn't disagree more with the bold. I'd agree you need more physical ability & talent on avg to be successful as a smaller guy since power is less in play, but the depth is definitely not there. The fact so many guys get into the top ten with less than ten fights & then fall off into medoracity when they lose kinda proves that.

The 3 weight thing is factually untrue. Of the 55 3 weight belt holders 20 (36%) did it in weights 126lbs or under. 9 (16%) of the 55 won their first belt at 105lbs. And I believe 105 to 112 is the most popular 3 belt guy altho I'd have to double check that to be 100%.

[Roadblock]

I love Naoya Inoue!

Instead of loitering in here why don't you buy a megaphone stand out the front of your place and tell your neighbours.