Naoya Inoue made a comeback against promoter Eddie Hearn and the fans he is running from his WBA #1 contender, Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Japanese star Naoya feels that there is no need for him to defend his four super bantamweight titles against Murodjon, especially since he lost a year ago to one of his victims, Marlon Tapales, in the April 8, 2023.
Hearn looked furious on Saturday night, calling out Naoya to defend Akhmadaliev later after the 2016 Olympian's third straight bout victory over Ricardo Espinoza (30-5 , 25 KOs) at the Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
During the post-fight interview, Matchroom promoter Hearn shook his finger, talking to Inoue, talking about "Uzbek power" and other nonsense to argue that the Japanese star should defend Akhmadaliev. Of course, it wasn't Naoya's fault that he failed in his fight with Tapales. If Murodjon had done what he was supposed to do with Tapales, there would have been no problem.
The "Zero Need" Remark
Espinoza, 27, was not a top opponent and was brought in like Akhmadaliev's pure 24k gold, which he did. Inoue was not fooled. He saw the fight for what it was and didn't go heel, allowing him to drop the former IBF champion and WBA 122-lb champion Akhmadaliev, who was promoted by Hearn. he insisted.
According to Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) "no need" he should fight Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KOs) for the following reasons:
- Lost to Marlon Tapales
- Akhmadaliev should be kept valuable
- Have to wait
- Naoya is scheduled to fight Sam Goodman
Inoue is defending his super bantamweight title against #1 IBF and #1 WBO contender Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) on January 24th at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Tokyo , Japan. Inoue was originally scheduled to fight Goodman on December 24th at the same venue, but the Aussie suffered a cut over his right eye during his last sparring session. The fight must be postponed.
“Why should I run away from the one who fell to Tapales? 🤷♂️ No need for that…If you want to fight, keep the “value” of winning and wait!! Now I'm really interested in Goodman's fight. @AkhmadalievMj,” Naoya Inoue tweeted Xshowing his reasons for walking away from the fight against his #1 WBA champion
Source link