Naoya Inoue is the Only Elite Fighter Knocking Out Other Elite Fighters

I love the concept and appreciate what you are saying but I don't think it's quite correct on two fronts.

1. I don't think Inoue has really fought elite fighters. Perhaps a level or a level and a half down from that.

2. If number one is true, then I think it is fair to say that Artur Beterbiev has fought the same level of opponents as Monster and has been knocking them out.

 

How do you define "elite fighter"? And how do you define "regularly"?

His only "P4P" ranked opponent I'm aware of is Donaire (Donaire was last P4P ranked 6 years before Inoue fought him the first time in 2019) and he wasn't able to stop Donaire when Donaire was 36-37. A 2014 Donaire had previously been stopped in 6 rounds by Walters, albeit at 126.

Not to say that "P4P" lists are great metrics but at least it's something.

 

Which elite fighters has he fought?

 

Bro I'm actually from Philly, to call Fulton elite is an extreme stretch, not even his own hood believed in him. Donaire was the only decent scrap and hes halfway towards retirement.

 

So you’re saying one of Opetaia, Billam-Smith, Badou Jack, or Goumalirian is elite at cruiserweight?

 

Gouloumarian is but hes too inactive

 

Inoue has not fought any elite fighters.

95% of European and American men do not weigh 120 lbs.

The talent pool in the lower divisions is significantly smaller.

 

I like Inoue, he is a real beast, I doubt that anyone can beat him in the near future, he is an unbeatable machine, I will say with certainty that Inoue will be the best ever in the divisions he conquers...

 

Worth noting that the Fig win was controversial.

 

Inoue didn't KO Donaire the first time.

No.1 fighter in the division excluding yourself is a metric, like "P4P" but Inoue has had the advantage of operating in multiple weight divisions, as do his opponents. It's easier to become No.1 or No.2 ranked, perhaps briefly, if you have several weights to choose from at any given time. If you're a career LHW say and you are being avoided by the other big dog, how are you ever going to beat the No.1 fighter aside from yourself? Fighters in the cash-strapped smaller divisions also may not have the luxury of being able to avoid each other as much if they want to get paid.

It would be equally true to say that Inoue has never KO'd a "P4P" fighter who was P4P ranked in the previous 9 years and even if we include Donaire 2, his total is 1.

Whatever metric used, we'd need to see how Inoue's numbers stacked up with everyone else's. How many "elite fighters" has Loma stopped, for instance?