When will Inoue stop ducking MA?

To be fair, for a lot of boxers those 3 fights take 3 years.
Inoue fought Doheny in September.

 

Dudes had 4 fights in just over a year, including a unification and two mandatories.

His tentative rumored schedule seems to immediately be two more mandatories, including Akhmadaliev.

Doesn't really seem like he's avoiding mandatories.

 

He could have fought Akhmadaliev when he fought TJ Doheny I guess as that was a voluntary. But in regards to mandatories Akhmadaliev simply has to get in line with the rest of them.

Goodman is the WBO and IBF mandatory and the WBO mandatory along with the WBC take have priority over the WBA mandatory as Inoue won the WBO and BC titles first and so those are first in line.

Picasso is the WBC mandatory so it makes sense that's next. Then if the WBO don't force a mandatory again after Goodman was cut twice, then Akhmadaliev is next in line.

But then of course there's the Nakatani fight which many are clamouring for and would be far more lucrative than Akhmadaliev.

I get Hearn has been kicking up a fuss of late for his boxer but its no different than when Ortiz was AJ's mandatory, Akhmadaliev has to get in line and wait his turn to get KTFO, like everybody else. Hearn knows it's not happening next, so he can shoot his mouth off to make his fighter look like he's being avoided just like Ortiz did knowing full well another mandatory was ahead of his shot, so he could trick people into thinking he was being avoided.

 

I actually see three possible scenarios:

A) Picasso @Vegas in May promoted by Top Rank; MJ @location TBD (US? UK?) in late August/early September promoted by Turki; Ball @Saudi in late December promoted by Turki. Four fights total in 2025.
Probably the ideal scenario for everyone involved and the fans. However it will require a lot of moving pieces after Picasso and will be tricky. Late August/early September may get promoted by Turki but won't be in Saudi because it is outside Riyadh season. My pipedream hope is that it gets on with the Canelo vs Crawford card scheduled on September in the US. If somehow they pull it off and Inoue wins all of them convincingly I'd say it gets him Fighter of the Year 2025 unless Crawford fights Lara in May and Canelo in September and wins both.

B) Picasso @Vegas in May promoted by Top Rank; MJ/someone from 122 @japan in August/early September promoted by Ohashi; Ball @Saudi in late December promoted by Turki. Four fights total in 2025.
Frankly, if Turki decides to say "hey just fight in Riyadh for December" there is a possibility Ohashi could attempt to put a card in Japan in between for an extra fight. Although on paper this probably is the easiest path and makes the most sense EXCEPT for one major issue: there is a realistic possibility that Ohashi and Eddie aren't in best terms right now when you consider that Eddie had blatantly attempted to totally eff over Ohashi last fall with the last minute WBA order and the obvious disrespect he showed. Ohashi may look like he's not mad but he's certainly no forgotten it IMO, and to be honest I'm getting an impression that MJ himself doesn't really want to fight in Japan which could make the summer fight be another guy outside MJ unless Eddie and MJ are willing to cooperate very nicely.

D) Picasso @Vegas in May promoted by Top Rank. Ball @Saudi in October promoted by Turki. Three fights total in 2025.
The Ball fight would be fun, but a bit underwhelming in terms of overall year. However the Riyadh season being October-March kinda makes it possible that this happens depending on Saudi scheduling and Turki's preference. I believe this is what Eddie is fearing the most and desperately trying to build drama and story with MJ while keeping him shelved until the fall hoping for Inoue fight. Frankly if Eddie and MJ were actually smart they'd already have atleast a stay busy fight scheduled maybe around April so that he's not endlessly accumulating rust but after Tapales it seems like they are too scared of losing.

The key here is whether Turki/Saudi actually sees enough value in MJ or Eddie can convince him to keep MJ in the loop. Given MJ's lack of exposure and value he has regained in the past two years, if Turki decides to say "Nah, it ain't worth it I'd rather Inoue just go straight to Ball instead of MJ for Riyadh!" then MJ and Eddie is officially screwed because he doesn't get along with Arum to begin with and probably also on bad relations with Ohashi right now.

Barring crazy injury to Picasso on the last minute (see: Cutman, Sam), it seems like it is a matter of time before it is officially announced which I'm guessing around May. Nakatani fight will NOT occur until 2026. Mainly because (1) Nakatani wants to fight against some ranked contenders twice in 122 before fighting Inoue which is understandable and fair, and (2) Nakatani still wants to attempt to unify and will fight at least one more time after Cuellar at 118 before moving up.

 

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Wish everyone was ducking like that.

 

Why are you disparaging Inoue, who is now fighting people bigger than himself and cleaning out 122, while you never mention the real ducks like Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson, who fight either limited opposition or guys from smaller weight divisions?

 

Inoue is a fine sized 122er. He's taken the time to put on the weight

 

Can't wait for SepT haha MJ gonna get smashed