Would you have rather he finished the guy off in a round and not get much out of it at all? That would be a complete waste of time, at least he got some rounds in before finishing the year off. Clearly just sharpening his blades and experimenting his skillset before getting in the ring with the elites. It wasn't like he or anyone else on his team asked for this fight, he wanted to stay active and they just fed whoever was available. Just sucks how the timing and circumstances came into play for him so he couldn't get any credible fights this year. 2022 should be no excuses.
Yes, I know. But still — I'd like to see have seen multiple KDs, but he just looked flat and lacked his usual timing and precision. But I get it. I just hope it really was him getting some work in and not him being drained/declining. 2022 might be better. Omicron seems like it's spreading very easily.
I haven't seen the fight yet (and probably won't bother) but there's nothing wrong with a filler fight when you're used to facing all comers. Canelo is praised by many for facing these SMW bums.
He mentioned in the build up towards the fight that he is training to knock the opponent out via jabs, which is why you see pin point jabs at the start of the fight (much more than his usual fights from what I could tell), he also seemed to be absorbing a lot of shots he shouldnt and baiting aran to land a lot more than he usually would in championship fights (at one point he dropped both arms and just inched towards aran). I think its interesting that there's such a vast expectation of what he is able to do when he has been putting away champions in his previous bouts and as such should be a testament to aran's formidability when compared to his other championship caliber opponents. With that being said, i think he did not expect Aran to be so tough, in regards to his performance yes its a bit weird that he did not stop him in the early rounds, to me it was just some experimenting as well as testing out new variations as he himself knows this is more of a filler fight than anything else. Looking forward to 2022 monster fight though!
It's a little hipster-ish. Some overrate them because the general public underrate them. But most don't count their losses. I remember when some had Kosei Tanaka on their p4p list before an older Ioka outboxed and then stopped him. Tanaka just squeaked by Ishida, as well. Higa was talked up a bit before Rosales TKOd him and look at him now. I kept getting told that 108 was a good class and then Teraji, the #1-ranked fighter, gets upset by Yabuki, who really wasn't impressive looking. Sometimes it's a matter of overrating credentials, too. Since it's easy to weight-hop and trinket-snatch from 105-112, people get impressed with two/three-weight titlists, discounting the lack of depth these classes generally have. Granted that, Inoue didn't look bad at all against Dipaen. In fact, he looked very good but not as good as one would expect, given that is the worst opponent he has had on paper in a long time. Dipaen's toughness and fairly consistent movement kept him hanging around. My issue with Inoue is that his defense lacks nuance at times. He likes to block, parry, and step out of the way, and he's good at those things, but he could move his head more and cover up less. He also has this thing about recoiling his right hand or throwing it back after tossing a punch. I think he's an exceptionally complete fighter, though, and genuine hype jobs would have hit a wall somewhere against his level of opposition.
Just looked like he was going through the motions..it was a fight against someone not in his league so he got a few rounds in for the fans....I imagine it's hard to get up for a guy whose probably not ranked in the top 100 at your weight
It was a performance that lacked his usual explosive flair and maybe he wasn't as focused against such an over matched opponent, but that's sometimes what happens. You know there is no threat and you just put in a workman like performance, sometimes you need the better class of opponent to bring out the best in you. It's impossible to always be at your best physically and mentally. But it may also simply be that Dipaen was more durable than expected. He's not been stopped before, Inoue was the first to stop him. I also think Dipaen didn't really show up thinking he could win. He was on the back foot for a lot of the fight simply trying not to engage and only on occasion stood his ground and traded. It hard to look good against an opponent who's main concern is not getting KO'ed rather than winning. Much like in a football match when a team knowing they can't beat a better team simply parks the bus and tries for a draw or to simply stifle the game, it's hard to look good under such circumstances. I get why some might be disappointed by the performance though. Dipaen was a huge underdog and was expected to be blown out early and when that doesn't happen one can feel under whelmed.
I wouldn't worry. Besides a little spurt he hasn't been a KO1 type his whole career. He goes rounds with a lot of completely overmatched opponents like Moloney and in the days of yore he went the distance with David Carmona. He experiments and has a weird obsession with knocking someone out with a jab. It is probably time for 122 though. He's going to be even better there.
Ya’ll expect every opps gonna go down like that rican bum rodriguez and Payano better check ya selves.
I think a lot of boxing fans do not realize that it is not possible to look great in every fight especially when you are an elite fighter. A lot of guys fight to the level of their opposition so I believe Innoue knew this guy didn't really have much of a chance so he didn't feel the need to be on his A game. A more dangerous opponent in front of you forces you to either be great or fold. Also the opponent to a great fighter determines whether or not the great fighter must call upon his special skillset and if not the great fighter can just coast and win simply because they are the better fighter which is what I believe Innoue did this time out.
Inoue's defense is just fine given how offensive/aggressive he is. He gets tagged no more than Crawford, Lomachenko, and Clenelo. Probably less, in fact. I wouldn't call his defense leaky/porous/whatever. He slips and rolls a ton of shots.
I didn't say his defense wasn't good or that he didn't employ other methods of defense, only that he "lacks nuance at times." Against Donaire and Dipaen for instance, there were times when he would stand and cover up, allowing himself to get touched up. Dipaen went around his guard a few times in their fight. He got tagged by a number of lead rights by Donaire and Rodriguez, too. There's always a trade-off when you are an aggressor and that's fine, but he's not a Lomachenko/Alvarez/Rigondeaux level defender. He doesn't need to be anyways. He's very good as is. I would just like to see him diversify a bit more to make himself more potent.
I get it. I'm just saying that Inoue's defense is actually very good. He gets hit less than Lomachenko and Clenelo. Clenelo got hit way more in either Golovkin fight than Inoue did against Donaire. Donaire landed 3 massive nukes (the latter 2 against an Inoue with compromised vision), but otherwise Inoue was beating him clear. It's just weird because people don't say Lomachenko and Clenelo should tighten up their defense. It's a boxing match. People get punched in the face. Even guys who prioritize defense.