Naoya Inoue

The native form of this personal name is Inoue Naoya. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Naoya Inoue
Inoue in 2023
Born
井上 尚弥

(1993-04-10) 10 April 1993 (age 31)
Zama, Kanagawa, Japan
Other namesThe Monster
(怪物 Kaibutsu)[2]
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)[1]
Reach67+1⁄2 in (171 cm)[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights28
Wins28
Wins by KO25
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Japan
Asian Youth Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Tehran Light flyweight

Naoya Inoue (井上 尚弥, Inoue Naoya, born 10 April 1993) is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, and is one of only three male boxers in history (along with Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk) to become the undisputed champion in two weight classes in the "four-belt era".[3][4] Nicknamed "The Monster", Inoue is known for his exceptional punching power, possessing a knockout-to-win percentage of 89.28%, with 91.30% in world title matches.

He is the first and only boxer to win the undisputed championship[a] at super bantamweight, having held all four major titles since 2023, as well as the Ring magazine title. Previously he held the undisputed championship at bantamweight between 2022 and 2023, and the Ring title. He became the first undisputed bantamweight champion since Enrique Pinder in 1972, and the first boxer in history to do so in the four-belt era.[5]

Earlier in his career, Inoue held the World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight title in 2014, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior bantamweight title from 2014 to 2018, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title (Unified version) from 2018 to 2019.[6] He has also held the lineal championship at bantamweight[7] and super bantamweight,[8] and won the 2018–2019 World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament.[9]

In June 2022, Inoue became the first Japanese boxer to be ranked No. 1 in the world, pound for pound, by The Ring[10][11] and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.[12] He was named Fighter of the Year in 2023 by The Ring, the Boxer Writers Association of America, and ESPN.[13][14][15]

  1. ^ a b Top Rank Boxing on ESPN tale of the tape prior to Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales.
  2. ^ Eric Armit (27 August 2013). "Behind the Results". BoxRec.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Inoue KOs Tapales to become second male two-weight undisputed champion". The Guardian. 26 December 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  4. ^ Wells, Adam. "Naoya Inoue KOs Marlon Tapales in Boxing Fight to Become 2x Undisputed Champion". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Naoya Inoue vacates undisputed bantamweight titles to move up to super-bantamweight". www.britishboxingnews.co.uk. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference koizumi201404 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Lineal Bantamweight Champion". www.linealboxingchampion.com/new-page-13. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Lineal Super Bantamweight Champion". www.linealboxingchampion.com. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  9. ^ "World Boxing Super Series Winner". www.japantimes.co.jp. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. ^ "井上尚弥 米リング誌選定のPFPで1位！日本人初の快挙 編集長の「最後の1票」で決まる - スポニチ Sponichi Annex 格闘技". Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  11. ^ "井上尚弥が日本人初のPfp１位に「誰も辿り着けなかった場所まで来た」". 11 June 2022. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  12. ^ "TBRB P4P Rankings Archive". www.tbrb.org. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Boxing's best of 2023: Fighters of the year". 29 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  14. ^ "NAOYA INOUE IS THE RING'S 2023 FIGHTER OF THE YEAR". 5 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  15. ^ "NAOYA INOUE IS THE 2023 BWAA FIGHTER OF THE YEAR". 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.


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