Naoya Inoue’s case to claim the 2023 Fighter of the Year award only grew stronger on Boxing Day. He knocked out Marlon Tapales to become the undisputed super-bantamweight champion, thrilling fans in Tokyo. It was Inoue’s 21st consecutive title bout, a run which dates back to his WBC light-flyweight title win against Adrian Hernandez over seven years ago.
Now, the four-weight champion has confirmed that he is planning three more fights at super-bantamweight before he makes the jump to featherweight. Boxing Scene reports that Inoue’s next opponent will be a controversial one, in the form of WBC Mandatory Challenger, Luis Nery. Nery is currently banned from fighting in Japan due to a lifetime ban from the Japanese Boxing Commission.
Inoue responded to the speculation in his post-fight interview, saying, “We plan to return to the ring in May. We can’t really discuss who that might be since we are in negotiations.”
Nery previously knocked out the WBC Bantamweight Champion Shinsuke Yamanaka in 2017, but tested positive for a banned substance, Zilpaterol. Though he argued it was due to food contamination, he was stripped of his belt and given a lifetime ban from Japan. As a result, Inoue could be set to fight outside of Japan for the first time in five consecutive fights.
The undefeated boxer is looking to further dominate the 122lb division and it seems his next opponent and date have been revealed. It remains to be seen if Inoue can match the achievements of Manny Pacquiao and conquer as many as eight-divisions.
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