Coming up @ Kōrakuen Hall at the end of April. A mild step up in class for Inoue (who is, believe it or not, of no relation to "Monster" Naoya whose clan also includes bantamweight prospect brother Takuma, coach father Shingo, and cousin 140lb prospect Koki) - but youth should prevail here. Nonaka is a tough SOB and was until October riding an eight year unbeaten streak, but he is also 40 years old and was pretty easily shut out by the "okay, nothing special" (by world class standards) Dennis Hogan. This will be an IBF eliminator for the number 2 spot. Here are the current rankings: Champ: TBD (currently Jarrett Hurd, but thirteen hours from now could be - and IMO will be - Erislandy Lara ) 1. NOT RATED 2. NOT RATED 3. Kanat Islam 4. Maciej Sulecki 5. Nathaniel Gallimore 6. Julian Williams 7. Dennis Hogan 8. Magomed Kurbanov 9. Zakaria Attou 10. Takeshi Inoue 11. Tony Harrison 12. Yuki Nonaka 13. Orlando Fiordiglio 14. Brandon Cook 15. Tyrone Brunson So, a chance for the victor to skip ahead several places and bypass a few dangerous contenders.
Yuki Nonaka vs. Dennis Hogan: http://www.epicentre.tv/events/hogan-v-nonaka/ Takeshi Inoue vs. Riku Nagahama: This content is protected
I blame Taka, all Taka's fault! Most of the thumbnails used on the AB channel are his choices...the dirty git! I can't see anything but an Inoue win here. He was tremendous in 2017, and his results were among the best for any Japanese fighter outside of the world class guys. Beating Akinori Watanabe, Koshinmaru Saito, Riku Nagahama and Ratchasi Sithsaithong in sucessive fights to unify the JBC, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific titles inside a year was brilliant. Sadly other than the Nagahama fight and the Watanabe fight (below) his other wins last year were Boxingraise fights. This content is protected I like Nonaka, but the reality is that he's well past his prime. Very nice tidy boxer in his prime, with a lovely eye pleasing style, but I can't see what eh has to trouble Inoue. Whilst on the subject of Inoue he fights from the World Sport Gym, his most notable gym mate is Kazuto Takesako...boy he's a brutal ******* at Japanese level!
Both guys looked amazing on the scales and came in on the limit. Nonaka has a 4" heigh advantage, Inoue is 12 years younger. First bout for Nonaka at "The Hall" in almost 9 years
Wish this : was to say to keep an eye out for a RBR in about 8 hours, but sadly this one sounds like it won't be streamed anywhere (or even televised domestically in Japan) live.
Man Japan’s choice of what fights they broadcast and when they broadcast them is sometimes very puzzling. Was really hoping there’d be like a last minute reporting of a stream on twitter lol