Is Naoya Inoue On His Way To Becoming The GOAT?

I don't see Charlo coming back down to 154. I think Crawford can fight Spence again , Ennis and Tszyu then he has a legit case for goat assuming he beats all 3 and becomes undisputed in 3 weight classes - - Spence was toast vs Ugas after his near fatal Ferrari disaster. Not making any moves for the rematch means he know he done. Monster Inoue definitely GOAT in his era, the best a fighter can do.

The fact that they fought each other so many times, got tied up with mandatories and repetitive fights with SSR and Cuadras and losing to the wrong people is exactly why Inoue was unable to land a fight with either one of them for three years while constantly asking for one. I wrote a more detailed timeline of Inoue's attempt to get an unification match at 115 in some other thread a few weeks ago I believe, but to reiterate: !) Inoue got his first title at WBC 108 in his 6th match, then after one defense was considering moving up but was unable to find a good opponent that will agree to fight him next in 112 until Omar Narvaez (WBO champ at 115) offered a title match. Inoue eagerly jumped a division for the chance for his second title, and destroyed Narvaez in R2. 2) Now a two division champion at 115, after Inoue had a few defenses Chocolatito announced that he will move up to 115. Inoue offered to fight Chocolatito hoping to be able to face the future HOFer and then the biggest star of the lower weight class. 3) Chocolatito refused the fight with Inoue citing that he's not a good enough ticket seller in the US, and instead chose to fight Cuadras for his belt instead and won. Inoue was at the ringside of this match and offered a unification fight to the winner. 4) Chocolatito refused the unification fight with Inoue yet again, and instead goes to fight beltless SSR for his first defense...which ironically he lost anyway, which locked him in for another rematch fight with SSR with Inoue unable to fight either of them the next year. 5) Estrada came up to 115, but instead of jumping into a title match he decided to do two tuneup fights followed by a title eliminator with Cuadras for a chance to fight the winner of SSR and Chocolatito, which took Estrada out of the potential opponent for Inoue as well. 6) Chocolatito lost his rematch, contemplated retirement, and SSR was occupied with Estrada so Inoue tries a last ditch effort to get a unification with Jerwin Ancajas but that also fell through. Inoue said eff it, if no title holder is willing to fight an unification I'm going up for more belts and went up to 118 and then ended out wiping the floor out. The first time he refused, you can say Chocolatito had a valid point that he didn't like the money. But his choice to defend against belt-less SSR AFTER defeating Cuadras for his belt (over Inoue's offer for unification) was definitely Chocolatito ducking Inoue. SSR was already locked with a rematch with Chocolatito, then a mandatory defense against the winner of Estrada-Cuadras. Estrada came up a year too late to 115 and got locked in with an eliminator with Cuadras for the chance to fight SSR and then lost just to add on. Also, it took a decade for Chocolatito to run it back with Estrada.

If he decides to go for legacy and fight Tszyu and Jermell @154 for his next two annual matches and wins, he actually has a valid argument when talking from historic accomplishments as of end of 2025 when he will be a "38 years old 42-0 undefeated boxer and the first ever in history to go three divisions undisputed from junior welter, welter, and super welter (overall 4 division champion)". If he decides to waste his next two fights doing the totally worthless Spence rematch (which he will win regardless of 147 or 154) and a Canelo payday match (which he will lose), he probably won't considering that will make him a "38 years old 41-1 boxer, two divisions undisputed (junior welter and welter) and overall 3 division champion, hoping to possibly take a chance at getting a belt at 154 before he retires if he is lucky" as of 2025. But man...I really, REALLY hope the Spence rematch is actually down the drain as it truly will be a meaningless match at 147 (Crawford will destroy him again) or 154 (Crawford will win a somewhat closer than 147 match). Not that I'd want to see Canelo-Crawford either, but meh. I don't see Charlo coming back down to 154. I think Crawford can fight Spence again , Ennis and Tszyu then he has a legit case for goat assuming he beats all 3 and becomes undisputed in 3 weight classes

Maybe, maybe not that's all pure speculation. Whats not speculation is both Estrada and Choco were on the p4p list, both regraded as future hofers and the best of this era in the lower weights besides Inoue. They fought each other while Inoue never fought either man or anyone of that caliber of opponent who had those accolades except Nonito and that was a way past it Nonito. The fact that they fought each other so many times, got tied up with mandatories and repetitive fights with SSR and Cuadras and losing to the wrong people is exactly why Inoue was unable to land a fight with either one of them for three years while constantly asking for one. I wrote a more detailed timeline of Inoue's attempt to get an unification match at 115 in some other thread a few weeks ago I believe, but to reiterate: !) Inoue got his first title at WBC 108 in his 6th match, then after one defense was considering moving up but was unable to find a good opponent that will agree to fight him next in 112 until Omar Narvaez (WBO champ at 115) offered a title match. Inoue eagerly jumped a division for the chance for his second title, and destroyed Narvaez in R2. 2) Now a two division champion at 115, after Inoue had a few defenses Chocolatito announced that he will move up to 115. Inoue offered to fight Chocolatito hoping to be able to face the future HOFer and then the biggest star of the lower weight class. 3) Chocolatito refused the fight with Inoue citing that he's not a good enough ticket seller in the US, and instead chose to fight Cuadras for his belt instead and won. Inoue was at the ringside of this match and offered a unification fight to the winner. 4) Chocolatito refused the unification fight with Inoue yet again, and instead goes to fight beltless SSR for his first defense...which ironically he lost anyway, which locked him in for another rematch fight with SSR with Inoue unable to fight either of them the next year. 5) Estrada came up to 115, but instead of jumping into a title match he decided to do two tuneup fights followed by a title eliminator with Cuadras for a chance to fight the winner of SSR and Chocolatito, which took Estrada out of the potential opponent for Inoue as well. 6) Chocolatito lost his rematch, contemplated retirement, and SSR was occupied with Estrada so Inoue tries a last ditch effort to get a unification with Jerwin Ancajas but that also fell through. Inoue said eff it, if no title holder is willing to fight an unification I'm going up for more belts and went up to 118 and then ended out wiping the floor out. The first time he refused, you can say Chocolatito had a valid point that he didn't like the money. But his choice to defend against belt-less SSR AFTER defeating Cuadras for his belt (over Inoue's offer for unification) was definitely Chocolatito ducking Inoue. SSR was already locked with a rematch with Chocolatito, then a mandatory defense against the winner of Estrada-Cuadras. Estrada came up a year too late to 115 and got locked in with an eliminator with Cuadras for the chance to fight SSR and then lost just to add on.

he can be one of the greats for sure, the GOAT is all according to whos saying it, I dont subscribe to any one GOAT, but I do have my favs... wit that being said I dont think he will surpass pac man as far as resume and fame

Gonzalez and Estrada would lose to Payano, McDonnell, Moloney, Rodriguez, Nonito, Butler, and Fulton. They probably couldn't even beat Dasmarinas or Dipaen. Maybe, maybe not that's all pure speculation. Whats not speculation is both Estrada and Choco were on the p4p list, both regraded as future hofers and the best of this era in the lower weights besides Inoue. They fought each other while Inoue never fought either man or anyone of that caliber of opponent who had those accolades except Nonito and that was a way past it Nonito.

The problem with Inoue is his resume. Name one fighter he fought that gonna be a notable HOFer? Forget another ATG. Take someone like Sanchez. His career was short but at 23 he already had names of the top contenders of the time like Castillo,Laporte, and Little Red. And had notable atg wins in Wilfredo Gomez and Zoom Zoom. He doesn't even come close to Pac resume wise. Pac has so many notable names. Who has Inoue fought besides a old Nonito who was already KO'd and out boxed multiple times.Every other name in his resume including Fulton is not gonna be remembered in 5-10 years. He should not have skipped a division and fought Chocolatito and Estrada that would have boasted his resume tremendously. As good as Inoue is he was born in the wrong era where hes the only talent in the lower weights except 115lbs and he skipped that division. Thats why p4p 1 is a debate with him cause his resume is so weak. ​ Gonzalez and Estrada would lose to Payano, McDonnell, Moloney, Rodriguez, Nonito, Butler, and Fulton. They probably couldn't even beat Dasmarinas or Dipaen.

The sport of boxing must remember him as one, as he definitely is on the way to become one. One may say he almost is, depending on how he'll do in the next few years.

He didn't skip the division with Chocolitito and Estrada. he was champ there and they wouldn't right him. Yep, Choc is on record saying he didn't want to fight Inoue because he wasn't well known enough. Then went on to lose the fight, and tie up all the 4 top guys at 115. Jerwin Ancajas also agreed to terms and then pulled out. The division he skipped was 112, and he did so to move up two weight divisions to take on the #1 ranked and possible future HOF Omar Narváez, who was 43-1-2, two division champion with 27 total defenses. I love that he gets NO credit for that win, while Tank Davis gets love for fighting a secondary champ one division up in Mario Barrios. He did what Canelo did vs Kovalev except without the extremely short notice, or what Jermell did except without the losing the fight in an extremely submissive manner. Went up two divisions to fight the best guy and knocked him out. He's fought and knocked out the best guy in his divisional debut 3 times, and people still say those wins were all against bums.

The problem with Inoue is his resume. Name one fighter he fought that gonna be a notable HOFer? Forget another ATG. Take someone like Sanchez. His career was short but at 23 he already had names of the top contenders of the time like Castillo,Laporte, and Little Red. And had notable atg wins in Wilfredo Gomez and Zoom Zoom. He doesn't even come close to Pac resume wise. Pac has so many notable names. Who has Inoue fought besides a old Nonito who was already KO'd and out boxed multiple times.Every other name in his resume including Fulton is not gonna be remembered in 5-10 years. He should not have skipped a division and fought Chocolatito and Estrada that would have boasted his resume tremendously. As good as Inoue is he was born in the wrong era where hes the only talent in the lower weights except 115lbs and he skipped that division. Thats why p4p 1 is a debate with him cause his resume is so weak. ​ He didn't skip the division with Chocolitito and Estrada. he was champ there and they wouldn't right him.

No, but Terence Crawford is. If he decides to go for legacy and fight Tszyu and Jermell @154 for his next two annual matches and wins, he actually has a valid argument when talking from historic accomplishments as of end of 2025 when he will be a "38 years old 42-0 undefeated boxer and the first ever in history to go three divisions undisputed from junior welter, welter, and super welter (overall 4 division champion)". If he decides to waste his next two fights doing the totally worthless Spence rematch (which he will win regardless of 147 or 154) and a Canelo payday match (which he will lose), he probably won't considering that will make him a "38 years old 41-1 boxer, two divisions undisputed (junior welter and welter) and overall 3 division champion, hoping to possibly take a chance at getting a belt at 154 before he retires if he is lucky" as of 2025. But man...I really, REALLY hope the Spence rematch is actually down the drain as it truly will be a meaningless match at 147 (Crawford will destroy him again) or 154 (Crawford will win a somewhat closer than 147 match). Not that I'd want to see Canelo-Crawford either, but meh.

No, but Terence Crawford is.

I hate to use the whole COVID what-ifs, but his career is really something that I wonder of what-if if not for that thing derailing his career plans for possibly up to 2 years. The cancellation of the April 2020 Casimero unification at 118 (instead of what ended up being Butler in Dec 2022) due to COVID happening as planned would've killed two birds with one stone...another notable name knocked out, plus moving up to 122 atleast a year or two earlier because back in 2019 after he got his second belt he was talking about using 2020 to get the last two belts (one being Casimero), then moving up to 122 on 2021. Then we may be talking about a potential 126 title match against Robeisy around now (instead of possibly sometime in 2025). At his current age, it is probably not going to be realistically possible to even reach his 7th weight class given that he plans to stay there until he goes undisputed in 126 (his 5th division) as well before he moves up to 130 (6th division). Or, if he somehow had the current Japanese money backing back in 2016-2017 to get the other 115 champs + Chocolatito/Estrada to actually fight him...he fought 8 matches at 115 while waiting for his turn to fight the other champs (stupid endless amount of mandadories/rematches between SSR and Choco, Estrada and Cuadras etc, and Ancajas not accepting unification offer...), as he definitely was there long enough to go undisputed there if the chance occurred. Being a two division undisputed going for his third, on his way to the 4th will probably be something that would have gotten him more traction right now, instead of one undisputed going for second. Yeh just win a title at 130lb division could make him GOAT.

The problem with Inoue is his resume. Name one fighter he fought that gonna be a notable HOFer? Forget another ATG. Take someone like Sanchez. His career was short but at 23 he already had names of the top contenders of the time like Castillo,Laporte, and Little Red. And had notable atg wins in Wilfredo Gomez and Zoom Zoom. He doesn't even come close to Pac resume wise. Pac has so many notable names. Who has Inoue fought besides a old Nonito who was already KO'd and out boxed multiple times.Every other name in his resume including Fulton is not gonna be remembered in 5-10 years. He should not have skipped a division and fought Chocolatito and Estrada that would have boasted his resume tremendously. As good as Inoue is he was born in the wrong era where hes the only talent in the lower weights except 115lbs and he skipped that division. Thats why p4p 1 is a debate with him cause his resume is so weak. ​

Prince Naseem Hamed was an exception to the rule he was Allah blessed with maximum charisma points Big Brits tuned in despite him being 5 ft 3 He wasn't a GOAT, was a midget version of Hector Camacho.

Please we don't want the Floyd boys to start boohooing in here. Big Dunn. Roadblock. Iron Dan. Bodybagz.

If inoue takes challenges and wins and avenges losses whilst In 7th weight class he can be GOAT. If he was seen to take the hardest route and not easiest I hate to use the whole COVID what-ifs, but his career is really something that I wonder of what-if if not for that thing derailing his career plans for possibly up to 2 years. The cancellation of the April 2020 Casimero unification at 118 (instead of what ended up being Butler in Dec 2022) due to COVID happening as planned would've killed two birds with one stone...another notable name knocked out, plus moving up to 122 atleast a year or two earlier because back in 2019 after he got his second belt he was talking about using 2020 to get the last two belts (one being Casimero), then moving up to 122 on 2021. Then we may be talking about a potential 126 title match against Robeisy around now (instead of possibly sometime in 2025). At his current age, it is probably not going to be realistically possible to even reach his 7th weight class given that he plans to stay there until he goes undisputed in 126 (his 5th division) as well before he moves up to 130 (6th division). Or, if he somehow had the current Japanese money backing back in 2016-2017 to get the other 115 champs + Chocolatito/Estrada to actually fight him...he fought 8 matches at 115 while waiting for his turn to fight the other champs (stupid endless amount of mandadories/rematches between SSR and Choco, Estrada and Cuadras etc, and Ancajas not accepting unification offer...), as he definitely was there long enough to go undisputed there if the chance occurred. Being a two division undisputed going for his third, on his way to the 4th will probably be something that would have gotten him more traction right now, instead of one undisputed going for second.

No one's been more dominant in the history of boxing. The guy's lost a handful of rounds in a career that's spanned 10 years. If inoue takes challenges and wins and avenges losses whilst In 7th weight class he can be GOAT. If he was seen to take the hardest route and not easiest

You can't be a GOAT being that small in the eyes of the public... would be ridiculous, got MMA with an alpha male in Jon Jones and then boxing has some ****ing midget who weighs less than most girls, gtfoh... Weren't you the same one who said Fulton would easily beat Inoue? In MMA the P4P top guy is not Jones, it's Makhachev. A 155lber. Previously it was Volkanovski, a 145lber. Not long ago, the P4P #1 guy was Chocolatito. Who was a 115lber, smaller than Inoue by 2 wgt classes. What's with all these fat insecure people, trying to discredit smaller fighters... LOL.

I checked the resume stats don't mean nothing to me because they relative to the opponents, lots of Mexican greats to compete against in small man GOAT pissing competitions, I hope he goes on and does great things still a lot to do. No one's been more dominant in the history of boxing. The guy's lost a handful of rounds in a career that's spanned 10 years.