Naoya Inoue hasn't been in the junior featherweight title hunt for long and doesn't feel obliged to insist on a mandatory title shot, American promoter Bob Arum told Boxing Scene on Monday.
Arum was speaking about the 2024 plans of Japan's Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), which were revealed by another boxing source in discussion with BoxingScene.
Instead of fighting the next WBA No. 1 contender and former unified 122-pound champion Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev, Inoue has expressed a preference to fight veteran WBA top-five contender TJ Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs), who has won his last three bouts in Japan, on September 9.
“[Doheny] “It's a big attraction over there and that's what's important,” Arum said. “Look what Louis Nery did as a bad boy. [following a positive PED test]which contributed to a sold-out Tokyo Dome.”
Following Doheny, Inoue will likely face IBF contender Sam Goodman in a mandatory 122-pound bout in December, sources and Arum said.
“The worst case scenario is [Inoue] Losing the WBA title… that's “who cares?” Anyway, the plan is [Inoue] This year, he will compete at 122 and then move up to 126. [featherweight] “Next year,” Arum said.
There was confusion over which of the four governing bodies should give priority to unbeaten champion Inoue when Australia's Goodman personally greeted him in the ring after Inoue knocked out Nery in their bout at the Tokyo Dome on May 6.
Last week, the WBA clarified the issue, ordering Akhmadaliev and Inoue to negotiate the bout by mid-July and set a fight date by September 25. In response, Akhmadaliev's manager Vadim Kornilov suggested the fight would be best scheduled for a Saudi Arabia-backed bout at Turki Aralsik's Wembley Stadium, headlined by former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
According to boxing insiders, Inoue's Japanese promoter has no plans to include him in the London bout in September and there is a possibility the Goodman fight will also take place in Japan.
Arum also criticized Akhmadaliyev's public profile.
“The opponent who lost four times [Inoue’s] “The record means more,” Kornilov told BoxingScene in a text message on Friday. “This is not a mandatory fight. It's about fighting the best.”
“Inoue should fight Akhmadaliev or someone like him… he wants to be remembered as the best.”
Inoue is currently an undefeated four-division champion competing against undefeated heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and undefeated two-division champion Terence Crawford as boxing's pound-for-pound champion, and is in position to pursue greatness as a five-division champion, Arum said.
“That's why all of these upcoming featherweight title fights are so important,” Arum said, citing the WBO featherweight title defense between titleholder Rafael Espinoza and Mexican Sergio Chirino Sanchez in Las Vegas on Friday, and the Top Rank-announced IBF featherweight title defense between Luis Alberto Lopez and Angelo Leo on Aug. 10 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Premier Boxing Champions are also preparing their fighters for a title defence against Inoue, favouring a unification bout between the winner of WBA titleholder Rey Vargas versus Brandon Figueroa in September and Britain's Nick Ball, with the new winner likely to be an attractive option for Inoue.
“If you go with Inoue, you get a lot of money,” Arum said.
