Who is the Greatest Boxer in the World Right Now?

I mentioned him recently in a blog post related to power punching.

I also mentioned him an older post about boxers I recommend to emulate.

This Tuesday, he became the undisputed bantamweight champion (118 pounds), holding every belt in his class, first person in 50 years to do it as a bantamweight and the first ever from Asia to be undisputed. He is from Japan and he is Naoya Inoue. This isn't just my opinion either. Inoue (nicknamed "The Monster") is now at the top of most boxing pound-for-pound lists. And in case you didn't know, since people box anywhere from 105 pounds to close to 300 pounds, and since a feather weight would never fight a heavyweight, there is this notion of the best "pound-for-pound" fighter. It's only theoretical and of course, subjective, but people who follow boxing closely, make these lists based on the skills and abilities of each fighter and I think it is safe to say that Inoue is truly the greatest. No one in any division is as dominant, dynamic and exciting as he is.

I keep bringing him up for several other reasons too. He doesn't get nearly as much attention as he deserves. Even the boxing media focus a lot more on fighters like Canelo Alvarez, Tyson Fury, Ryan Garcia, Terrence Crawford, Errol Spence, Tank Davis, Oleksandr Usyk, Teofimo Lopez, Lomachenko, and even Jake Paul. There are certainly reasons for this and fighting at such a smaller weight class, being from Japan, not talking any trash or having much of a social media presence doesn't necessarily sell tickets but this guy is really something special. He may be one of the best all-time when his career is over.

But he also serves as a great example for anybody who gets into boxing. Again, he's not a big guy at all. Doesn't come across as intimidating or even cocky in any way. His nickname is "The Monster" but if you were to see him walking down the street, you would never know it. Most of us don't really look like monsters either - big, tough, scary customers no one wants to run into in a dark alley. This is generally a good thing but like I talked about last week, it also means sometimes we let that hold us back when we box. We use it is almost an unconscious excuse to not get better when in reality, we are all fighters and deep inside every one of us is a monster too!

Along those lines, Inoue proves what I say over and over that anyone can have punching power. He finishes pretty much all of his fights by knockout and TKO. That is unheard of for a bantamweight. Pretty much unheard of for anyone who fights consistently, at championship level. And he generates this power all through technique, proving that point as well, that technique creates power, not big muscles or mass in general.

It is not just single punch power either. Naoya Inoue is the best combination puncher I have ever seen. He is known overwhelmingly for his body shot finishes. Everybody that steps into the ring with him knows exactly what is coming. But they can't stop it. Why? Because he flows from punch to punch so well that there is no way to defend them all and eventually that mid-section will open up, now matter how much they try to protect it. As someone who creates and teaches many boxing combinations every day, I have immense respect and admiration for how effectively and fluidly he throws combos. Plenty of great pressure fighters will overwhelm their opponents with relentless punching from all angles but that's not what Inoue does. It's more like precise, surgical strikes that are each designed for a specific purpose.

Then there are those body shots. Many of us who have studied boxing know how effective them can be at ending a fight or at least, setting up the ending of a fight but Naoya is one of the select few who can make body punching into an art form. As I alluded to earlier, everyone who fights him knows what he is going to do. Most recently, Paul Butler did everything he could to block those body shots and was able to survive longer than most but ultimately, it did not matter. Inoue found the way and won by KO yet again.

The next step will be for Inoue to move up in weight class, fighter bigger and stronger opponents. It will be interesting to see how his power carries over and how this post looks in about 10 years but for right now, at the end of 2022, there is no better boxer.