Keitaro Ohie / Lemino BoxingWhat’s next for Naoya Inoue after furthering his legacy on Saturday with a 12-round unanimous decision over Junto Nakatani at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan?
Inoue, 33-0 (27 KOs), defeated three-weight titleholder Nakatani in the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing so, whatever comes next, it’s going to be a hard act to follow.
Here are five potential options for the 33-year-old:
5. Seiya Tsutsumi
Record: 13-0-3 (8 KOs)
Chances of happening: 5 per cent
Level of excitement: 3/10
Tsutsumi is a bantamweight who holds a win over his brother, Takuma Inoue. If Tsutsumi were to move up in weight, there is a storyline there.
4. Sam Goodman
Record: 22-1 (8 KOs)
Chances of happening: 10 per cent
Level of excitement: 4/10
They were set to fight last year, but it didn’t happen. Maybe it could be revisited. Goodman moved up to featherweight and lost to then-belt holder Nick Ball. He has since moved back to junior featherweight.
3. Angelo Leo vs. Ra’eese Aleem winner
Record: Leo, 26-1 (12 KOs); Aleem 23-1 (12 KOs)
Chances of happening: 20 per cent
Level of excitement: 8/10
Inoue has already won titles in multiple divisions. If he were to challenge the winner of next week’s IBF featherweight title bout between beltholder Leo and challenger Aleem, it would position him to make even more history.
2. Junto Nakatani
Record: 32-1 (24 KOs)
Chances of happening: 50 per cent
Level of excitement: 8/10
It might not have been as exciting as fans wanted, but it was a quality bout. It’s too early to say whether it comes next but the obvious respect between the fighters and their teams, added to the first bout catching fire down the stretch, means it should be easy enough to make.
1. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
Record: 23-0 (16 KOs)
Chances of happening: 30 per cent
Level of excitement: 10/10
An assumption that Rodriguez will beat WBA bantamweight Antonio Vargas, which could be costly, but if Rodriguez were to win, what better fight exists for Inoue? Yes, Rodriguez is a junior bantamweight, moving up to bantamweight, but if he were to voyage up one more weight class, we could have another mega-fight.
