Is Inoue hurting his earnings by staying in Japan to fight?

A lot of you will never understand this but it's about integrity.

 

I don't think so. If there were big lucrative names to fight at his weight in the US then yes but US fans won't be paying to see Inoue against best at 122 or 126.

 

He is making over 400 million yen a fight now. That is over 3 million usa dollars a fight. There nobody near that type of money 126 and under. The guy is massive in japan.

 

Ain't making shyte in americwar
Get to the new home of boxing

 

He makes millions fighting in Japan and he is becoming a bigger and bigger celebrity here (Japan), which means he's able to be a sponsor for big companies and get millions more in endorsements (think George Foreman in the 90s).

His last 2 fights were on the streaming app for 1 of the biggest phone companies. It really wouldn't make much financial sense to fight elsewhere and lessen his presence in Japan.

 

Also, just to further explain his coverage in Japan, after his fights results are talked about on mainstream TV news during the sports section (not just some cable news station), on the TV monitors in the trains (used by millions) his fight results are shown, he gets a big section of the sports page in the newspapers in Japan.

No modern US boxer has that level of coverage in the USA.

 

Wake up.

It's 2023 and boxing has been dead in the USA since lil Floyd ruined the sport.

 

I might have a slightly unexpected take on this. I live in Japan (like some others here) and sadly I think he might want to consider being based outside of Japan.

But actually, what is really hurting him is having his fights broadcast on the streaming app Lemino. Most people in Japan have no idea that the app exists let alone how to access it. One of my Japanese clients said it would be much better if he was on Amazon Prime (which he was when he fought Donaire). Sadly, he is no where near as well known as he should be in Japan. If his fights were broadcast on terrestrial TV he would likely be a superstar.

There seems to be another strange factor at play here. The Japanese are really proud of their athletes when they ply their trade abroad. Baseball is a bit of a misnomer because it is the national sport, and the U.S. has the best league. But take for example Keisuke Honda, he was seen as a football superstar in Japan, and this was before his AC Milan transfer, back when he was playing in the Russian league for CSK Moscow! So, it does appear that the Japanese rate their own athletes a lot higher if they are seen to be competing against the best overseas...

Just to give you some private insights. I have been taking a straw poll of my clients whenever Inoue fights over the years---most people kind of know who he is, but next to no one watches his fights. Which I think is quite sad considering what he means to the boxing hardcore.

I'm sure the money is good which he is getting from his streaming deal with NTT Docomo, but he should/could be so much bigger.

 

Yes I do agree that being on the app is hurting his popularity because when I checked comments in Japanese after the Tapales fight, several were wondering when this fight would be broadcast on terrestrial TV & saying that Boxing was becoming a far away thing with streaming instead of being on terrestrial TV but it is following the same path as elsewhere where Boxing is a niche sport

Baseball is mainstream in both US & Japan, & Inoue's weight classes aren't mainstream in US nor are there any American or America based stars in weight classes below 130. People keep bringing up Pac but there is no Barrera, Morales, & JMM now & above all there is no ODLH who was a massive star like Canelo is now. It was by beating him that both Pac & Floyd crossed over to superstardom & there is no one like him up until 130 (Inoue's likely ceiling). So Inoue becoming a star like Pac or Ohtani by fighting in US is a pipedream IMO

May be if he fights next year in US he can have Ohtani accompany his entourage during walkout to have that mainstream appeal in US, that's all I can think of

 

"Nobody cares about US sports "
29% of MLB (baseball) players are foreign born. Somebody in those countries must care:
Venezuela
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Canada
Colombia
Japan
South Korea
Germany
Australia

Nobody cares about US/Canadian sports? 30% of NHL players are foreign.
Sweden
Russia
Czech
Finland
Slovakia
Germany
Switzerland

Nobody cares about US sports? 22% of NBA players are foreign born; someone from those 40 countries must care about basketball. In fact the best player is a Serb. Best player in Dallas is Slovenian.

And by the way, who came to the US this year to make a ton of money playing soccer:
Lionel Messi.

Screw tennis. I'm done here.

 

Lol, what a weak pseudoarguments lol. I could make this case for every sport.

Yeah, you are done here, because you ejaculated in this debate, unfortunately prematurely. Hahaha hihihi.

 

If you think Messi didn't leave a ton of cash on the table by moving to the MLS then you are sadly mistaken.
Baseball is not an US sport, the league MLB is however American.

 

The USA is finished now that the Saudis are putting on the biggest fights

 

Honestly if someone labels themselves a World champion they should fight worldwide. Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania.
MSG is not what it used to be. And just turning the lights on probably costs enough to give any promoter a small heart attack.
America is no longer the Mecca of boxing. Ironically the new Mecca is pretty close to actual Mecca lol.