Nick Ball vs Naoya Inoue

Ball is really strong and hits hard but he gets hit a lot. I have Inoue by decision 116-112.

 

Ball is a beast, but Inoue…well, he’s a monster

 

The Monster no doubt

 

The monster turns those ribs into mush.

 

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Same here. I think Ball could win some rounds simply due to his activity level, but Inoue would pick him apart with sharp counters.
Inoue would beat his body like a professional drummer.

 

That´s fair. Inoue will eventually face guys who are significantly bigger than him and his power won´t be as destructive.
Inoue didn´t move to 122 because he had to, he did it because he wanted to. Nick Ball started his career at 130 and worked himself down to 126. And the funny thing about Ball is that despite his height, he doesn´t really look smaller than his opponents. Dude is a tank.

 

While Monsta's only closing in on 32 we should start factoring in championship age, he's been prepping & fighting for full 12 for over a decade. Even if only suffering nunishment vs. Noni-I & Nery, he picked up bruises & punishment in camp & sparring too and small & Japanese fighters historically don't age great. 126 would be his 6th division (jumped one) and a young, prime, naturally larger fighter and could spell trouble and he's not caring particularly for impeccable defense lately.

That said, with One Punch KO power u don't really need to bulk up to the opposition to hurt them and can move in & out lightly like late Pac, plus timing improves with age even if speed degrades. I think he carries up the power but 122 is already pushing it size-wise, so 126 is definitely an equalizer. I'd pick him over Ball tho. In the end, Junto is the mega fight to make and P4P contenders should chase Monsta in his weight rather than asking the King to make the move.

 

Ball is a quality, all-action fighter, but his style would give Inoue so much to work with. The Monster's counters would likely short-circuit the Liverpudlian. It's the timing of them. Ball would be punished for repeated patterns.

Chit-chat about Inoue's power starting to wane is overstated. Let's wait until someone goes the distance again shall we.

 

I saw Nick Ball get beat up by a basic American fighter in his previous fight.

I saw Nick Ball last night almost lose at his own game against a guy who fought to Nick's strengths and his own weakness

I heavily favor Inoue in this one, either by humiliating boxing clinic or devastating KO, I'm sure Inoue is looking forward to fighting bigger men who will attempt to walk forward and make it a fight, the monster will enjoy having its prey come to him instead of having to chase them down for a change

 

almost lose at his own game? I saw Ball dominate most parts of most rounds, knock Rios down twice, and then end it by literally knocking Rios through the ropes and out of the ring.

now, the weaknesses I saw there were that Ball gets hit way too often, especially in the face. Cannot go in against Inoue with that kind of leaky defense.

but outside of that, Ball looked like a wrecking ball against Rios.

 

Ball is a good fighter, he is deceptively good, yes he can pressure and bully opponents and sets a furious pace but he also has a surprisingly good jab and has quick counters too, so simply going at him and trying to push him onto the back foot is dangerous too.

But I have to favour Inoue. Ball's high pressure style would pose a lot of fighters serious problems but Inoue has fight ending one shot power with either hand to the head and body and all that aggression from Ball would only give Inoue ample opportunity to land a fight ending punch. Maybe if Ball had serious one shot power he'd be a threat but he's more of an accumulative puncher who breaks guys down and I see Inoue landing the definitive punch before Ball can wear Inoue down.

This is all of course if Inoue's power moves up with him. But given how he's brutalised guys at 122 I don't see any reason why he couldn't do the same to guys at 126. Even if his punch loses some of it's steam he hits so damn hard at 122, he'll still be a puncher at 126.