Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue will defend his four belts early Monday morning against Louis Nery at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The event will be broadcast live on ESPN+ starting Monday, May 6th at 4:00 a.m. ET.
Revenge or risk?
Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) had hoped to fight Neri (35-1, 27 KOs) rather than move up to featherweight and face the 126th-ranked Big Dog.
Some fans believe that “Monster” Inoue chose the recently KO'd Neri to avenge his two losses to compatriot Shinsuke Yamanaka in 2017 and 2018.
If this is Inoue's move with national pride at stake, it is already too late. Inoue should have fought Neri in 2018 instead of 2024 before getting knocked out. That's kind of pointless now that Neri lost to Brandon Figueroa in 2021. How will Inoue advance and defeat a fighter who has already been knocked out?
Inoue should go after Figueroa, not the knockout victim. Of course, it's a much more dangerous fight for Inoue, and there's a chance he'll lose. It would be more heroic for Inoue to fight one of these killers at age 126 and him at 130.
– Luis Alberto López
– Brandon Figueroa
– Raymond Ford
– Rey Vargas
– Nick Ball
– Rafael Espinoza
– Robeisy Ramirez
– Joseph Cordina
– Oshakie Foster
– Robson Conceição
An overwhelming presence under the radar
Inoue vs. Nelly is not on the radar of most boxing fans in the United States because it is not heavily promoted in the United States and the timing of the fight makes it impossible for Americans to watch it without stopping work.
It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at Top Rank headquarters and hear their thoughts on the early morning broadcast of Inoue and Neri's fight. As Naoya Inoue's co-promoter, Top Rank can't get a good deal if his fights air early in the morning.
The event starts at 4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT, so if many Americans want to see it happen already, they won't be able to until after that.
Undercard action
– Takuma Inoue vs Sho Ishida
– Jason Moloney vs Yoshiki Takei
– Seigo Akuyuri vs Taku Kuwabara
Naoya's younger brother, Takuma Inoue, is fighting on the undercard. Takuma won the WBA bantamweight title last year by defeating 41-year-old Liborio Solis in a 12-round decision.
In Takuma's last fight, he stopped Jerwin Ancajas in nine rounds. Ancajas had lost two of their last three games leading up to that game.