Can Naoya Inoue surpass the achievements of Masahiko Harada?

The Nail logo is a little too Hot Topic/Slipknot.

 

You'd have to put Harada ahead, but to say he is leagues above Inoue is a ******ed statement.

Inoue's Report Card

Power: A+ (to the body and head, left hand and right hand)
Speed: A
Accuracy: A
Chin: A+
Defense: A-
Jab: A
Footwork: A
Ring Cutting: A
Ring IQ: A

He's the most complete fighter and the most dominant in the sport losing the least rounds. Initially, I thought he looked poor in his last outing, but that was unfair as I was judging his performance against the lofty expectations he set for himself.

Upon a rewatch, he looked to be cruising, getting rounds in, and trying new stuff. Leading up to it, Inoue had talked about wanting to KO his opponent with a jab.

 

This report card **** is gay.

He isn't the most dominant, nor the most complete fighter in boxing, and even if he was, that wouldn't put him in the same league as Harada.

 

That weird video game stat card means nothing because the thread specifically asked about achievements.

Even if it did matter Harada has better jabs, footwork, ring cutting, speed, strength and work rate.

 

How do you figure Harada has a better jab, footwork, ring cutting, speed, and strength when Inoue has demonstrated everything in spades? And work rate isn't applicable as Inoue is extremely economical and surgical in his style.

And like I said, Harada has to be ahead on achievements, but he's not "leagues above Inoue under any standard," which I argued head to head as fighters.

Achievements? Inoue is a 3 weight world champion and currently unified. He smoked 3 consecutive world class opponents in under a combined 4 rounds. Inoue's also handed first KO losses to many of his opponents. He's not blowing away guys with a single weapon. He's dropping and KOing guys coming forward, going backwards, to the body, to the head, with pressure, countering, and with either left hand or right hand. He's never relied on his power to bail him out. He's never been outboxed or outgunned. He's far beyond the eye test.

 

Speed: Harada's speed is absurd. When I say Harada had better footspeed and handspeed I'm not calling Inoue slow. Harada was just that fast.

Jab: Harada had one of the most unique and special jabs in boxing history. He was almost always throwing it.

Strength: Harada bullied ATG's and pushed them back to the ropes despite usually being the smaller guy.

Footwork: Harada had some of the most impressive aggressive footwork in boxing history. You shouldn't need me to describe it since there's film of prime Harada.

I would personally pick Inoue to win if they fought but I really don't like how much you're underrating Harada in a h2h sense.

George has already explained why Harada's achievements and resume are better so I won't. Inoue will have a really hard time surpassing Harada's resume especially if he keeps having years like this.

 

If you want to learn more about Harada then here's a really good thread
https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/fighting-harada-the-thread.669250/

 

I'm not dissing Harada in the least. I just think Inoue is being undersold when Inoue has clearly demonstrated himself to being as close a perfect fighter as a guy can be.

He's very economical, but he's an offensive dynamo. His opponents know all about his hateful hooks to the body, but Inoue still lands frequently, easily, and with impunity.

His piston jab is surgical and thrown with a toxic combination of precision, speed, and power. I don't see how a jab can be better save for more frequency, but Inoue's game is not volume.

His ring cutting ability is sublime and no one has yet to evade him despite running for survival. I'd love to see Inoue take on Rigondeaux.

For how offensive he is, he doesn't get hit very much and he rolls with a lot of punches. His defense is about the only thing you can criticize about him and it isn't even close to being a liability.

I mean, you picked Inoue to beat Harada, so there you go.

 

Written by me

 

H2H the only thing Harada has over Inoue is speed. Whoever said Harada has more strength is clinically insane.

 

No, Harada has lots of elements over Inoue. He's quicker, he's much more skilled - not that Inoue isn't very well schooled himself - and he's more forceful with a higher workrate. He's one of the most aggressive fighters ever, yet still got hit less than Inoue does. He also has far more intangibles than Inoue does.

If anything, there's only three areas where Inoue is better. He's bigger, has a better chin and a harder punch.

 

Brother, go and watch Harada.

Inoue is a more dedicated body puncher than Harada, but Harada's cross to the body and wide left hook around the guard were nasty. He whittled away an elite fighter like Kingpetch with them and hurt Jofre with it. He didn't have the power of Inoue, but the application of these shots were better than how Inoue sets his up. They were also used at a way higher level.

Harada could use a piston like jab similar to Inoue's at times, but he used it more like Lomachenko's. He occupied space, preoccupied handslots, worked around guards and used it to close distance and set things up. Anyone who can land quadruple jabs on a prime Eder Jofre without being countered, has an elite jab. He could also change it up and hammer single jab in somebody's face, like he did against Kingpetch.

Inoue's feet are Golovkin-like in that they get the job done, they get it done well and they don't waste much time or energy. Harada's footwork was more extravagant but it came with more benefits. He didn't just slowly cut the ring off and work his way into range - although he did do that. No, he worked himself inside their reach while cutting off the ring, by shuffling mere inches with every 'hop'. You can see how iy absolutely baffles perfectionist counter-punchers and master technicians in Medel and Jofre as they attempt to time him, only to be smothered and slaughtered up close.

Harada was even more aggressive than Inoue, and got hit even less. Against better fighters.

Inoue is an extremely good fighter, and if he had a bit more ambition, he'd be well on his way to a great one. But he is not 'as close a perfect fighter as a guy can be.'

The only way of Inoue beating Harada to knock him out, which I doubt he'd do.

 

Inoue has dropped and/or KO'd guys w/ both hands to both the head and the body. He's done it coming forward and going backwards. So I'm not sure how Harada's application was better than Inoue's application of shots when Inoue has demonstrated that he's lethal w/ every punch in the book. Actually, I think the only thing Inoue hasn't done is leveled a guy w/ an uppercut, but his offense has never been ineffective against anyone.

That's just a difference in approach in their craft. Inoue's jab is brutally effective as is and his style doesn't necessitate using his jab as a range finder (his foot and body positioning handles this for him). Inoue's jab is like Golovkin's except it comes at you with more speed.

Both men are extremely economical w/ their feet, but Inoue is actually pretty fleet of foot. Again, just different application of offense between Inoue and Harada. Inoue can close distance very quickly without the special effects or hyper footwork of guys like Pac, Lomachenko, and Harada.

Again, you're comparing 2 different styles. Inoue is actually hyper aggressive without the volume. Opponents are on edge every single second of a round against him. Inoue doesn't let up. You just don't see the volume because again, economy and styles.

I'd be interested to hear what facets of Inoue's game is lacking or needs improvements. As I mentioned many times before, Inoue's blowing guys away, but he does it with exceptional timing, punch selection, accuracy, above average speed, and he's a savage finisher. Inoue doesn't rely on his power. He just happens to be an explosive and powerful puncher. When you possess crippling power, elite boxing ability, an iron jaw, and you're dismantling guys with your boxing and not just powering through them, to me that's a pretty close to a perfect fighter. You could point to his defense, but again, he gets hit less than Crawford, Clenelo, and Usyk. And like GGG, he tends to slip/roll a lot of shots.

It sounds like I'm Stanning, but I never described Pac as a perfect fighter because he wasn't and I acknowledge that he got by a lot on his athleticism, determination, grit, balls, and heart.

Inoue would KO Harada and I'd put money on it.

 

I just don't agree that he's more skilled or gets hit less. He does have a higher work rate, though, I should have included that.