The next fight for Japanese star Naoya Inoue could take in London, England, at the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium in September.
Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) could potentially fight on the undercard of British heavyweight Anthony Joshua’s Next fight on September 20th or 21st. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh reportedly is interested in Naoya Inoue fighting on the Joshua card.
Undercard Concerns
It sounds a little bit too good to be true if you ask me. Inoue is a prideful fighter, and he won’t want to fight on an undercard, given that he’s a superstar in Japan. Would Inoue be willing to fight on an undercard in London?
It’s hard to imagine the 31-year-old former four-division world champion ‘Monster’ Inoue fighting on an undercard, but if he’s going to go through with his plans for defending his four super bantamweight titles against little-known unproven finesse fighter Sam Goodman (18-0, 8 KOs) rather than one of the killers in the next weight class up at featherweight, an undercard assignment is appropriate.
UK Fans Crave Inoue, But Against Whom?
British boxing fans are excited about the idea of Naoya Inoue fighting in their country, and they don’t seem to care whether he fights a good opponent or not. That’s the strange part. While it’s great if Inoue fights in England, if he’s fighting Sam Goodman, a guy he’ll likely knockout in three or four rounds, it takes a lot of the excitement out of it.
Fighting Goodman would be underwhelming and wouldn’t leave a favorable impression on fans. It’s better that Inoue really tests himself this time by fighting someone who has an actual chance of beating him, which he has been sorely missing during his entire career. Throw Inoue in with Luis Alberto Lopez and see if he can tread water.
If Inoue is going to fight in the UK, he should face one of these talents to make it interesting for the fans:
– Nick Ball
– Luis Lopez: IBF 126-lb champion
– Robeisy Ramirez
– Rafael Espinoza: WBO champ
– Rey Vargas: WBC champ
– Bruce Carrington: Knockout artist with one-punch power.