Inoue TKO2 Donaire Inoue KO3 Butler Bivol UD Clenelo Bivol UD Ramirez Bam UD Cuadras Bam TKO Rungvisai Bam UD Gonzalez Stevenson UD Valdez Stevenson UD Conceicao Haney UD Kambosos Haney UD Kambosos Gonzalez UD Martinez Gonzalez TBD Estrada Left out Usyk and anyone else who only fought once in 2022.
As of now its Bivol....It could be Chocolatito if he beats Estrada...Haney has no business being there...
I think Butler's going to be surprisingly competitive. He's got excellent movement, defends well, and schooled Sultan on short notice.
Butler is probably the weakest belt holder in boxing...he was completely dissected and destroyed by Many Rodriguez...Inoue destroyed Rodriguez in two...Inoue vs Butler is a huge mismatch.
Bivol & Shakur are the two best choices so far; given the theoretical nature of the others. If Gonzalez managed to stop Estrada, I'd reconsider. And if we can guess the results of Inoue's fights so easily, then he shouldn't be considered. Haney beating Kambosos is definitely not enough to be FOTY.
Emmanuel Rodriguez is world class. An excellent fighter. And Butler's no worse than Ramirez as an opponent. Even though Ramirez was undefeated and everyone knew he'd be the significantly larger man in the ring, no one gave him a shot. That right there tells you what kind of opponent Ramirez was.
I am from the Wirral so I am rooting for him. He can be a lovely fighter to watch when he is in full flow. Does the basics well, is well schooled and puts the hours in at the gym. Put those things together and you can be greater than the sum of your parts (a little bit like Jamie McDonnell, who on top of those things was also a big bantamweight). I just think he is a little too basic to make an indentation in the monster, you need to bring something special to the table to do that.
This fight will be very interesting for me because it will be the first time that Inoue fights someone who is a good mover and moves a lot. I don't see it as an obstacle that Inoue cannot overcome, but I am intrigued by how he will go about cutting the ring off on Butler.
EVERYONE knew and picked Stevenson to UD Valdez easily. Most said Valdez wouldn't even win a round. EVERYONE also predicted that Bivol was going to school and maybe even stop Ramirez. So your argument for why Inoue shouldn't be in contention is about as valid as Jussie Smollett's story.
Those fights have actually happened, and the idea that Valdez & Robson is somehow equal to an ancient Donaire and Paul Butler is why it's valid. And no, not everybody picked Bivol to beat Canelo, which is the main reason why Bivol is number one.
Estrada and Chocolatito would torture Butler...Inoue is my favorite current fighter but i call it as i see im not gonna act like Butler is the bantamweight version of Pernell Whitaker just cause hes fighting Inoue....Hes very average and poses no threat whatsoever to The Monster...its a mismatch...An easy belt grabber...and afterwards hopefuly its on to bigger and better things for Inoue.
Just like how Estrada tortured the equally unheralded Argi Cortez who ran him close, left him a bloody mess, and almost spoiled the trilogy fight with Chocolato? And don't be ridiculous — no one's saying Butler is elite or the bantamweight version of Pernell, but he demonstrated great footwork, punching and countering ability, and composure against a short notice opponent he was supposed to lose to.
It's Bivol. He beat the P4P #1 guy and also dismantled an unbeaten LHW fighter that people thought would be a threat.