Naoya Inoue's defense

Loma is routinely fighting giants at 135 who not only outweigh him by close to two, two or three divisions but who also have huge reach advantages on him and Inoue has 2'' longer reach than T-Rex arms Loma

At 118

Inoue 67½'' reach

Butler 65''
Nonito 68½''
Dasmarinas 66''
Maloney 65''
Rodriguez 66½''
Payano 64½''
McDonnell 71½''

Dipaen's reach isn't listed on Boxrec

Been at a reach disadvantage twice

At 135

Loma not only hasn't had a reach advantage but he's been at a 3-5½'' disadvantage all but once and with the exception of McDonnell Inoue is generally fighting guys who roughly weigh the same as him and if they are heavier than him than ain't 2 or even 3 divisions heavier, again, sans McDonnell

Loma 65½'' reach

Commey 71''
Nakatani 71''
Campbell 71''
Pedraza 70½''
Linares 69''
Ortiz 69''
Teofimo 68½''
Crolla 67''

Here's what Inoue has to say about facing Fulton, who has a 70½'' reach which is 3'' longer than Inoue's, and fighters who are adept at keeping the distance

'NI: Of course, I didn’t have to lose as much weight and that was huge. It might be that Japanese boxers, myself included, generally lose too much weight (fighting in unnaturally light weight classes), so as we move up the weight class, our power increases. I also feel that if I move up to 122, my power will still increase, and I can hit harder. Featherweight is probably my limit, (at that weight) my body will be heavy, so my speed will drop.

RTV: What is your impression of the two 122-pound champs – Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Stephen Fulton? Which one is likely to be your target when you move up?

NI: I haven’t watched much of Akhmadaliev yet, only a few highlights here and there. He has solid technique and is a strong fighter. I can see that he had a formidable amateur career supported by the Uzbekistan system.

RTV: How about Fulton?

NI: I watched the Fulton-Brandon Figueroa fight. Fulton is a technical fighter. He can keep his distance very well. I only watched one of his fights and I don’t think the Figueroa fight was his best, so I’d rather not say much more. If we fight each other, I think it will be a great technical battle. It won’t be an easy fight. Fulton has a long reach, and I think it's about how (well I close) the distance

Inoue is great and has always been good and underrated by many defensively but in terms of skills and defence he ain't no otherworldly boxing magician like Loma is who still sports some of the best plus minus stats in the sport despite the fact he's routinely facing giants who hold huge physical advantages on him. When he was down at 130 and 126 and not giving away such huge physical advantages he was the #1 in that regard. That's no knock on Inoue because no current other fighter is, especially when you factor in the huge size, weight and reach disadvantages. Inoue is a highly skilled devastating power punching destroyer with very good and underrated defence

 

Fighting way bigger, heavier and longer opponents who know how to use their length and range and keep you at distance isn't an easy puzzle to solve, especially when facing ones who can punch and are big/huge bangers for a weight class you don't belong in, and it takes special qualities to be able to overcome the problems that presents, even more so when you're routinely facing such huge physical advantages.

Inoue is much bigger at 118 than Loma is at 135 and whilst he's an excellent fighter who is strong in all departments it's his devastating power which makes him so formidable, whereas it's Loma's insane off the chart skill level which makes him so formidable and able to complete against these giants.

If Inoue was routinely facing world champions and skillful top contenders who weighed 2 or 3 divisions more than him and had huge reach advantages on him who know how to use their length and keep things at their preferred distance and range he would get hit a lot more and find it more difficult to land with his own shots. Everyone would because you have to be able to close the distance and then get back out again without getting clipped or walking into a big shot.

Also, that devastating power of his is going to make his opponents a lot more wary of throwing. We saw that the other night against Butler albeit I had the later well ahead in that one prior to the Hail Mary miracle finish

I agree with your second point. Many do the same with Bivol. People blow a ton of smoke up Shakur's ass for his defence but no one ever mentions Bivol's name even though he's right up there in terms of being one of the best defensive fighters in the sport.

 

I agree with both you and myself