I never said I didn't like Inoue or even that I don't think he's a great fighter. His resume is exaggerated and his level of performance is inferior to that of Tank (hence going life and death with Nonito and getting dropped hard by Nery).
It’s simple… he’s actually fought the best in his division, and seeks challenges at higher weights after beating them… even if he hasn’t been fortunate to have the best competition to fight against. I say this someone who’s been a vocal critic of the quality of his resume… Tank has not sought out challenges in his career like he could be.
The best at 115 were Estrada, Rungvisai and Roman. 118 was trash in general and he missed Tete. The best at 122 is MJ and he just got skipped for a washed up never was. Maybe it’s not that simple.
Narvaez was #1 at 115 when Inoue beat him, with 31 title fight records, tying the record with JCC. Inoue cleared 118, beat 3 of the top 4 at 122, KOd #1 at 115, beat the future #1 at 108. Tank has only been a paper champ. Sure, Ryan has name value, but off of steroids (which he was vs Tank) he has no high level wins.
I know Narvaez had alot of title defenses but when I see him vs Donaire years ago he didn't impress me. He fought so passive vs Donaire not willing to take a single risk just sitting behind his high guard all night happy to lose 12-0. If I remember rightly when Donaire was asked he thoughts on the fight I believe his response was = "I was bored" Which pretty much sums it up. Also what was the quality of Narvaez's title challengers ? Not alot of quality there to be quite frank. The two best fighters he fought in Donaire, Inoue, he didn't win a single round. To me Narvaez is kind of like Chris John who had alot of title defenses against mid opposition except John does actually have a win against an ATG in Juan Manuel Marquez although I thought that was a highly controversial decision.
He beat Lazarte and Paternina, who’d go on to become champions, Rivas who was reigning and a 2 div champion, and Potapov who had just beaten Nieves. He definitely has an above average resume for a champ and had a very long run. If you look at his average opponent he looks like a can crusher but there’s quality throughout.
also, Tapales just beat MJ. Fulton has a better resume too. How is MJ the best at 122? Isn’t saying MJ is the best just nonsense from your head?
It’s a little bit like beating Douglas after the Tyson fight and then fighting Dokes instead of Tyson. MJ was rusty in the first half of that fight, but won the second half. I thought he deserved the win and have zero doubt that he’d beat Tapales in a rematch. Floyd fought Judah after he lost to Baldomir. Why can’t Inoue fight MJ?
Inoue can fight MJ, but if he misses him, it’s not that important. It’s like Usyk missing Parker. Why doesn’t he fight Parker? He’s very good, but he lost to Joshua, and “I think he’d win the rematch” doesn’t do much. I wouldn’t compare MJ vs Tapales to Douglas vs Tyson. Tapales was a former champ and had a 10 KO streak going into that fight. If he doesn’t fight him after Goodman and Casimero though I’d say Akhmadaliev needs a new promoter.
Disagree. MJ is the best guy therel, other than Inoue, and was the best before he moved up. I don’t see any case for Inoue at pfp 1 unless he impressively beats MJ or fights the best at 126.
Why do you think MJ is better than Fulton? Evetest? I have Inoue at #2 behind Usyk. But his resume doesn’t lag very far behind if at all. He’s fought a larger field of competition (Usyk has competed against 2200 active pros vs 3400 for Inoue.) If Donaire was a few years younger I’d say Inoue has the better resume for sure. Inoue has the deeper world class resume, while Usyk has beaten Joshua and Fury. I don’t rate Fury too highly, his biggest angle is that he’s big. Look at his resume. I think Briedis has became overrated among Usyk fans too. It’s closer than people think.