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

The average height of American males is about 6'8" so there should be a large enough pool of athletes that can drain down to make 120lbs. The trouble is, there's not too much weight behind this argument when so many American males haven't seen a salad (or their meat and two veg) in over a decade.

• Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.9%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (45.6%), non-Hispanic White adults (41.4%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (16.1%).
• The obesity prevalence was 39.8% among adults aged 20 to 39 years, 44.3% among adults aged 40 to 59 years, and 41.5% among adults aged 60 and older.

"I coulda been a contender" but "just as I tried to get out, they pulled me back in [to Wendy's]"

 

I think we are being generous if we are classing a top-ranked guy in a division as "elite" without context. Likewise if we are using a titleholder as an indicator. Boxing is so watered down with politics, divisions, and belts that it's fairly common for fighters to wind up in the top spot without proving, comprehensively, that they belong there.

Use Narvaez as an example, since he's commonly cited on Inoue's resume. He was shut out by a truly elite fighter in Donaire and then made a string of defenses against largely lackluster opposition (besides Orucuta, who arguably beat him the first time). He didn't fight any of the top guys at 115 to solidify his place, but earned it by virtue of being consistent. Then Inoue, another obvious elite, blows him away in two. Should Narvaez be considered "elite" in light of that? I don't think so.

I'm not blaming Inoue so much as I'm blaming the game. It's not nearly as common as it should be for us to know who is genuinely elite. Regardless of whether any of Inoue's opponents deserve that title, he's the best puncher in boxing. It's generally harder to score kayos as a small man and he's looking at a streak that, in my opinion, should be 15 straight (I think Donaire got lucky in the first fight with that count).

 

Thats a shame. The Japanese crowd probably showed him more love than his own hood.